Discussion on the juxtaposition of mutually distant objects seen at the International Surrealist Exhibition in London (1936)

Abstract

In June 1936, a large international surrealist exhibition was held in London at the New Burlington Galleries. Although this exhibition did not have strategy to produce "marvellous" exhibition space, it still reflected surrealistic method in some ways. Its method was "the juxtaposition of mutually distant objects" which was related to the idea of collage cultivated in surrealism especially in 1930's. This paper, therefore, analyses the process of organizing the London exhibition, and makes it clear how this collage related method was expanded in the exhibition. In the mid-1930s, surrealist ideas as well as "semantic collage" crossed the international borders and spread to various media including exhibition. In the London exhibition, there are some examples based on this idea; a way of display and a catchphrase planned for its advertisement. These cases showed this method had been diversified through expansion and internationalisation of surrealist movement in this period, while they also revealed slight differences from the original idea. In this way, the London exhibition is not only one of the milestones in the history of international surrealist exhibitions, but also an early example concerning the issue of diffusion and reception of surrealism.