"I am as mysterious to myself as I am to others."
The life of Leonora Carrington is as fascinating as her work. A painter, sculptor, and writer interested in magic, folklore, and the occult, Carrington was ahead of her time—breaking not only the social rules imposed on women in the first half of the 20th century, but also challenging the leading figures of Surrealism with her strong opinions, boundless talent, and unwavering spirit.
Carrington was a British-Mexican surrealist artist and a founding member of the women's liberation movement in Mexico. Born on April 6, 1917, in Lancashire, England, she studied at the Chelsea School of Art and fell in love with the surrealists and their patrons, including the poet Edward James. Animal/human hybrids, giant goddesses, magical spaces of transformation, and enigmatic creatures populate Leonora Carrington's artworks and writings. She created a pantheon of subjects that reflect her interest in the sacred and the transcendent.
She was the only woman included in a major retrospective on Surrealism at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York in 1947, becoming an overnight sensation in the art world. Over the course of her life, she also emerged as a voice for the suffragette movement in Mexico, authoring several pamphlets and organizing gatherings. Throughout her eight-decade-long career, Carrington continued to explore the mystery of the world around her and to develop her distinctive style.
