Surrealism Now
October 17 - 20, 2024
Lauren Cline · Pearl Cowan · Ilana Eshel
Saba Farhoudnia · Dora Tomulic
Art Market Budapest, Booth G109
Hegedű u. 9., 1061 Budapest, Hungary
checklist of works
About
In the first half of the 20th century, as a response to the wars and devastation, inspired by Freud and the study of dreams, Surrealism became a significant modern art movement. Today, with the many conflicts around the world, we see a psychological echo of that in the resurgence of surrealism.
Surrealism, though, is a lot more than subconscious reflection on events. From the beginning, the Surrealists, including André Breton (author of the First Manifesto of Surrealism) collected art from Africa, Oceania and Native American cultures. While many modernist groups rejected history, Surrealists embraced it, tracing a lineage through the past. These cultures were engaged in myth making, each through their own artistic traditions. There were gothic paintings, African masks, etc. Mythology in general was collective and communal and tightly connected to the fabric of their lives. But some artists transcended their traditions and infused their art with surreal elements. Hieronymus Bosch being just one prime example.
The surrealist artists in this new wave are extending the movement. But in many ways, they are also reaching back to the longer lineage. Their works aren't merely or even primarily intellectual nor are they entirely dream states. They continue the legacy of myth making, but they do so on a personal level. They do not start from a communal mythology, but reach into their own life experiences and perspectives - be it motherhood, nature, war, physical health, mental health or chaos - and weave a personal mythology that is deep and rich with detail, nuance and feeling.
This movement is widespread, and Elza Kayal Gallery is proud to showcase five vastly different artists from myriad backgrounds. They tackle a wide range of themes and are prolific creators working across multiple mediums. For this exhibition we primarily chose works on paper for many reasons, including the fact that paper, in its simplicity, allows the artist to be more impulsive, and is in a way a more raw and honest expression of their selves.
Artists
Lauren Cline is an American figurative painter whose work explores the realm of the home, the bedroom, and other domestic spaces. She uses a process-based approach to create her compositions that is derived from Jungian psychoanalysis. Her work can be found in private collections in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Zurich. She is currently pursuing an MFA from Hunter College in New York City. She lives in Queens, New York with her husband and daughter.
Born in Temple, Pearl Cowan (b. 1982) got her BFA at The University of Texas at San Antonio in 2006. Cowan has had solo exhibitions at Good Naked, New York (2021); Elizabeth Moore Fine Art, Hudson, New York (2021); 13 Forest, Arlinghton, MA (2021); BK Projects, Brookline, MA (2019); Gray Contemporary, Houston, TX (2018).The artist’s work featured in many international group exhibitions including The Art Of Mushrooms, Serralves Museum, Portugal (2022); Becoming Trees, Concord Art, Concord Massachusett (2022); High Desert High, Smoke The Moon, Santa Fe, NM (2021); Magic Mushrooms, Drive-by Projects, Watertown, MA (2021); Radiant, Odetta Gallery, New York, NY (2019); Mystic Pizza, LABspace, Hillsdale, NY (2019); Hilo, Exploraciones Contemporáneas en el Arte Textil, Puerto Rico (2019); Sun Worshipers and Solar Machines, FPAC, Boston, MA (2018); Envisioning Natural Forces, Key Projects, Queens, NY (2018); Meddwl, The Parlour Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY (2016); and Modern Arts and Crafts, Eastside International, Los Angeles, CA (2016), among others. Cowan lives and works in Boston, MA.
In her art practice over the years, Ilana Eshel has been using drawings to explore her subconscious. In this ongoing process, a large base of ideas and inspiration is being constantly created. Back in 1991 while living in Hawaii, based on a decision to create a completely different original art for herself, Ilana began using automatic drawings that led to this new work, revealing worlds of characters and ideas related to freedom, identity, power, femininity, innocence to name just a few. The idea of change as a constant, guides her work. Color is a significant part of Ilana's art - she uses acrylic paint as well as other mixed materials such as ink pens, graphite pencil, watercolors, gouache, ink & acrylic markers, colored pencils etc. In recent years, she has been experimenting with digital art as a medium to create new visual ideas and narratives that further inspire and inform her art practice.
Saba Farhoudnia was born in Tehran, Iran in 1987, in the midst of war. She currently lives and works in New York. Saba’s paintings are monumental in scale and explore the challenges facing the human condition. Saba merges the art of drawing, painting, language, and verse, through brushstrokes, geometric forms, calligraphy, and gestural marks to evoke drama, pain, humor, and beauty. The forms are intended to plumb the depths of the grotesque and elevate the humor in beauty. Her work explores humanity poised on a precipice: facing an insecure present and an uncertain future.
Saba honed her skills by earning a Bachelor of Fine Art and a Master of Art from the University of Science and Culture in Tehran, Iran. Saba also received a second Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. She is an alumna of the Artist In the Marketplace fellowship program at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, an awardee of the Queens Arts Fund Grant (New York) in 2022, and an Artist in Residence at the Fashion Institute Technology of Art (New York, 2023). Saba’s work has been seen worldwide: her paintings have been exhibited across the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States, including in the Bronx Calling: The Sixth AIM Biennial (New York, 2024). Her work can also be found in such periodicals as Studio International, Art Spiel, Thalia Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, and Words Without Borders among others.
Dora Tomulic is a Croatian-American visual artist. Her layered and complex visual iconography derives from personal and collective symbolism. Chaos and patterns of motions are fundamental in Tomulic’s work. Disarray and order, randomness and control are the building forces in the compositions. Her abstract patterns and ambiguous figures create a mystical, kaleidoscopic space. Tumultuous worlds formulate a deeper sense of order. She considers chaos to be a prerequisite to harmony rather than its antithesis. Tomulic perpetually scrutinizes her paintings, often re-developing an earlier work or using it as the background of a new painting. The old is always an essential part of the new.