MARCH TWENTY-FIRST

On this date, March 21st, in 1934 the formation of the Group of Surrealists in Czechoslovakia (Skupina Surrealistů v Československu) was officially announced in the manifesto “Surrealism in the Czechoslovak Republic” (Surrealismus in ČSR). It was the first Surrealist group to be established outside of France.

March 21st also marks the date when one of the core members of this group, Jindřich Štyrský, died at age 42. He was known as a painter, photographer, graphic designer, editor and author. His well-known works include the erotic collages for Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream. These collages were created 90 years ago in the Spring of 1933 and first appeared in print in May of that year.

Jindřich Štyrský
Surrealismus
Vítězslav Nezval, ed. Prague, 1935
Paperbound volume
11 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches (29.2 x 21 cm)
(STYR 96)

MARCH TWENTY-FIRST

MOLINIER ROSE SAUMON: NOUS SOMMES TOUS DES MENTEURS

A new exhibition is set to open at the Le Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA. The art center, located in Bordeaux, will present Molinier rose saumon (nous sommes tous des menteurs) beginning on March 31, 2023. This exhibition also marks the 40th anniversary of the Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA, whose collection started with about 30 of Pierre Molinier’s works. In addition to exploring archives, Molinier’s inspirations, and the enduring importance of this work, the exhibition will also showcase the various collaborations with other artists, such as Hans Bellmer. Further information can be found here or in Art Critique article here.

Pierre Molinier
Toi, moi
[“You, me”] From Le Chaman et ses créatures, 1968
Vintage gelatin silver print (photomontage)
8 5/8 x 6 3/4 inches (21.9 x 17.1 cm)
Initialed & dated in hand other than artist’s on verso
(MOLI 52)

MOLINIER ROSE SAUMON: NOUS SOMMES TOUS DES MENTEURS

MAN RAY: AUGUST 27, 1890 – NOVEMBER 18, 1976

Man Ray (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976), born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who is known for his innovation and experimentation in photography. The artist created his first photograms in 1922, shortly after arriving in Paris where he would spend most of his career. He dubbed this works “rayographs,” and created them by using material, models’ body parts, and other objects to cover photosensitive paper and then exposing it to light. Man Ray’s other works, which include drawings, paintings, and even a chess set, are considered major contributions to both Dada and Surrealism.

Paul Éluard & Man Ray
Facile [“Easy”]
Paris, GML, 1935
Original paperbound book
9 5/8 x 7 1/4 inches (24.4 x 18.4cm)
(RAY 129 )

MAN RAY: AUGUST 27, 1890 – NOVEMBER 18, 1976

UNICA ZÜRN: JULY 6, 1916 – OCTOBER 19, 1970

Ubu Gallery would like to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the death of Unica Zürn. She is remembered for her dense, otherworldly drawings of fantastical creatures meticulously constructed out of finely rendered, obsessively repetitive shapes and lines. She produced the bulk of her body of work in the 1950s and 1960s, by which time she had already become an author. While involved with the German Surrealist, Hans Bellmer, Zürn began to experiment with “automatic” drawings and anagrams, natural extensions of her established interest in hidden meanings and coincidences.

Unica Zürn
La Serpenta
[“The Serpent”] Paris, 1957
Oil on panel
19 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches (49.8 x 49.8 cm) – image
25 x 24 3/8 inches (63.5 x 61.9 cm) – mount
Signed & dated on recto
(ZURN 121)

UNICA ZÜRN: JULY 6, 1916 – OCTOBER 19, 1970

AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: MORRIS HIRSHFIELD REDISCOVERED

Ubu Gallery is pleased to be taking part in a new exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum. Morris Hirshfield Rediscovered solely focuses on works by the self-taught artist, who was active in the 1930s-1940s and recognized by important figures in the international art world like Marcel Duchamp and Peggy Guggenheim. Hirshfield also took part in the 1942 First Papers of Surrealism exhibition, which was organized by Duchamp. Originally a tailor and then a shoe designer, Hirshfield created his body of work after his retirement and therefore had a brief but influential career. More information about the exhibition can be found here. Hirshfield’s works can be viewed until January 29, 2023.

Marcel Duchamp
First Papers of Surrealism
1942
Printed matter
10 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches (26.7 x 18.4 cm)
(DUCH 28)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. A photograph of printed matter, with the title in ornate font and a textured background. The background appears to be cheese with holes in it.

TOYEN: SEPTEMBER 21, 1902 – NOVEMBER 9, 1980

Toyen (21 September 1902 – 9 November 1980) was the pseudonym of Marie Čermínová, a Czech painter, illustrator, and drafter. The artist was a co-founder of the Czech Surrealist Movement, and eventually joined the Paris Surrealists in the 1940’s. The name “Toyen” was adopted by the artist in 1923 as a renouncement of gender and is believed to come from the French word for citizen – “citoyen” or from the Czech phrase “to je on”- meaning “it is he.” Toyen’s work was often highly political and referenced eroticism, gender, revolt against societal norms, as well as the experiences of women.

Toyen & Jindřich Heisler
Jen aby nenastal vítr (Z kasemat spánku)
[“Just so there is no wind” from “From the Bunker of Sleep”] Dated “1941,” probably printed 1940
Vintage gelatin silver print
6 1/4 x 4 1/8 inches (15.8 x 10.6 cm)
Signed, titled & dated by Heisler on verso

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. An image showing what appear to be toy pine trees and feathers scattered around. A small candelabra stands among the trees. The bottom half of the work shows a poem in Czech.

ORBUS PICTUS GALLERY: PRAGUE-PARIS

The exhibition Prague-Paris at Orbis Pictus Gallery has been extended until October 8, 2022. The exhibition, which includes 5 works from Ubu Gallery, focuses on Czech artists who come to live and create in Paris in search of creative freedom in the expression and production of their art.

Toyen & Jindřich Heisler
Hluboko v noci (Z kasemat spánku)
[“Deep at night” from “From the Bunker of Sleep”] 1941 (probably printed 1940)
Vintage gelatin silver print
3 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches (9.1 x 8.2 cm)
(TOYE 11.9)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. An image showing a row of women walking in a line towards a small clock. Small petal-like shapes are scattered behind them. The bottom half of the work shows a poem in Czech.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNICA ZÜRN!

Born in Berlin on July 6, 1916, Unica Zürn grew up surrounded by exotic, ephemeral objects collected by her father, a cavalry officer stationed in Africa. Inspired perhaps in part by her father’s gifts from afar and a longing for greater contact with him, Zürn developed a rich fantasy life and a vivid imagination. This is evidenced in her dense, otherworldly drawings of fantastical creatures meticulously constructed out of finely rendered, obsessively repetitive shapes and lines.

Already an accomplished author, Zürn produced most of her oeuvre during the 1950s and 60s while involved with the German Surrealist, Hans Bellmer. With Bellmer’s encouragement, Zürn began to experiment with “automatic” drawings and anagrams, natural extensions of her established interest in hidden meanings and coincidences. Most of the works in the exhibition were made during the 1960s—an intensely productive period for Zürn—though one marked by her deteriorating mental health and the unraveling of her relationship with Bellmer. On October 19, 1970, Zürn leapt to her death from the balcony of the Paris apartment she had shared with Bellmer. Upon his death in 1975, Bellmer was buried, at his request, next to Zürn in Paris’s Père-Lachaise Cemetery. Their grave is marked with the words Bellmer wrote for Zürn’s funeral wreath nearly five years before: “My love will follow you into Eternity.”

Unica Zürn
Untitled [possibly “Bon jour Monsieur M.–M = MON”]
1960
Ink on paper mounted on paperboard
25 1/4 x 18 7/8 inches (63.5 x 48.4 cm)
Signed “Unica Zürn Paris 1960” & dedicated “à Carl Laszlo à coté de L’hotel d’espérance au Henri Michaux comme vous voulez”
(ZURN 156)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. A drawing of thin and intricate lines that show human figures with multiple heads or faces. Two figures appear in the foreground as if in conversation, and an elephant-like figure stands to the right. Tree-like vegetation also appears in the background, along with the outline of two cities or urban areas in the distance.

ARTE E EROS: KLOSSOWSKI, MOLINIER, BELLMER, RAMA

Ubu Gallery is pleased to take part in a new exhibition at the Museo di Arte modern e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (MART). Arte e Eros: Klossowski, Molinier, Bellmer, Rama opens July 1st and builds on a series of drawings by Pierre Klossowski. The exhibition then aims to create a connecting thread though the works of Pierre Molinier, Hans Bellmer, and Carol Rama through the lens of Klossowski’s de Sadean imagery. Further information about the exhibition can be found here.

Pierre Molinier
Oh!…Marie, mère de Dieu!
[Oh!…Mary, Mother of God!”]
1965
Vintage gelatin silver print
6 5/8 x 4 3/4 inches (16.8 x 12.1 cm)
Title stamped on verso
(MOLI 56)

ARTE E EROS: KLOSSOWSKI, MOLINIER, BELLMER, RAMA

THE MACHINE-GUNNERESS IN A STATE OF GRACE: FORELAND ART CENTER

Ubu Gallery is pleased to take part in a new exhibition at Foreland Art Center in Catskill, New York. Works by Hans Bellmer will be part of The Machine-Gunneress in a State of Grace, presented by New Discretions as part of Foreland’s slate of July exhibitions. Further information about the Foreland Art Center and all upcoming events can be found here. In addition, an interview with the founder of Foreland, Stef Halmos, has been published in the New York Times and can be read here.

Hans Bellmer
La Mitrailleuse en état de grâce
[“The Machine Gunneress in a State of Grace”]
1937
Vintage gelatin silver print
2 3/8 x 2 3/8 inches (6 x 6 cm)
(BELL 254)

<em>THE MACHINE-GUNNERESS IN A STATE OF GRACE</em>: FORELAND ART CENTER