Sometimes we all need an escape from reality. That’s perhaps why we’ve seen a revival of Surrealism – the twentieth-century art movement that questioned rationality by incorporating it with the fantastical and uncanny. Originating as early as 1917, the core surrealist movement was active throughout the 1920s through the 1950s (which makes sense that it is trending a century later). It consisted of art, literature, ways of thinking and music, to name a few. It’s about making the ordinary extraordinary, or bending reality.
Even if you think you don’t know surrealism, you have definitely seen it in pop culture. Artists like Salvador Dali and René Magritte have transcended culture and become icons of the art world with their distinctive styles. Think the lip sofa, the suited man with an apple in front of his face, Ceci n’est pas une pipe. Everyday objects or scenes, but tweaked ever so slightly to feel as though you’re in a dream. It was described as the ‘uncanny’, where familiar objects in unfamiliar contexts feel almost anxiety-inducing. A lifelike baguette, but it’s a candle, or a cherry, but it’s a lamp.
We’ve put together a list of decor that we think encapsulates the movement. If you’ve fallen head over heels, keep an eye out for pieces that make you feel a little strange. Work them into your already eclectic home, or pop them into an otherwise ordinary room for a true surrealist nod.
The surreal edit:
Read more:
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- 15 of the best salt and pepper grinders
- Sardine decor is the fishy trend you didn’t know you needed
