From September 29 to November 25, 2023, the Raphaël Durazzo Gallery presents “The Other Side of the Mirror”, an exhibition celebrating the unique and transgressive perspectives of surrealist women. Wives of artists, but above all women artists, they embody all the fantasies of Surrealism: from magic to madness, from eroticism to libertinism, from imagination to trance. Through works by Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, Leonor Fini, Meret Oppenheim, Irène Zurkinden, Seigle, and Jacqueline Lamba, the exhibition invites us to rediscover an incredibly prolific, yet quickly forgotten artistic production—a dream world.
Trance and women
It was in the heart of the Roaring Twenties, and at the center of the world—Paris—that Surrealism was born. A revolutionary movement in every sense, it broke free from the social constraints of the early 20th century, already deeply shaken by World War I. Surrealism aimed to stand apart, to shock, to unveil. Young surrealists gathered to scream their unconscious onto paper or canvas, with André Breton as their ringleader. Artists experimented with hypnosis, automatic writing, drugs—they created, in trance-like states, entirely new forms of visual art: collage and photography stood alongside painting and sculpture.
Another defining feature of Surrealism was the omnipresence of women. The wives of artists, yes—but above all, the women artists themselves. Sometimes described as innocent muses, sometimes as femme fatales, often as madwomen. Witches one moment, saints the next—or both at once—the history of art has all too often forgotten them or relegated them to mere supporting roles, which is far from the truth. These women were not just followers—they were driving forces. They innovated, often with greater audacity than their male counterparts, offering a perspective that was fundamentally different.
Feminine Surrelism is not a continuation, it is its own Surrealism
These artists did not see the world the same way as the men of their time. Many had to give up everything, defy familial and moral taboos, and paid a much higher price for it. Every act of transgression cost them tenfold. While men portrayed women as erotic and seductive figures, Leonor Fini, Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, Jacqueline Lamba, Meret Oppenheim, and many others—lesser-known in France—sought to create an entirely different representation of themselves, one in which the woman holds the power.
They offer us a world often more dreamlike, more narrative than that of their male counterparts. Their depiction of the nude is rawer, more honest, more tortured. They invented chimeras with a fluency that would make Ovid envious—without needing to conform to any specific literary canon. Sexuality is a key part of this transgression: surrealist women were also prolific writers. Many of their plays and excellent short stories remain unpublished to this day. The future, therefore, still holds many wonderful discoveries.
