Remedios Varo - Study for Armonía, detail, c. 1956. Courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco
April 7, 2024
The visionary dreamscapes of Remedios Varo (1908–1963) were inspired by her unique view of reality. As she explained, "the dream world and the real world are the same," as she delved into these mysterious realms with an inquisitive eye, bringing the mythical, surrealist, and realist together into her fantastical pieces.
Included in recent surveys of women's art and global surrealisms, such as the monumental exhibition IMAGINE! and the last installment of the Venice Biennale, Varo's work has been drawing new interest and fascination. Continuing the exploration of her oeuvre, the upcoming exhibition at Gallery Wendi Norris will focus on her drawings, and it will be the first one dedicated exclusively to this aspect of Varo's practice.
A Visionary Line
The exhibition features nine of Varo's drawings done in Renaissance-inspired techniques showing her stylistic precision and excellence. Being created as indexes for her fantastical ideas and blueprints for her magnificent paintings, these drawings are considered works of art in their own right.
On view will be developmental studies for her famous paintings, such as El Flautista, which is today held at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, and Tailleur pour dames, in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Melanie Cameron, the gallery director, commented for Widewalls:
"We are honored to present the first exhibition dedicated to the drawings of Remedios Varo and her first solo show in New York City in nearly four decades. In this presentation, we invite viewers into an intimate setting to experience the precision and delicacy of the artist's hand in the creation of her fantastical compositions. The drawings are special in that they are the first expressions of the artist's mind as she gave her ideas visual expression."
Remedios Varo and Surrealism
Growing up in Madrid, Remedios Varo received training as a painter after learning observational drawing from her father. In the 1930s, she moved first to Barcelona and then Paris, where she got in touch with the avant-garde tendencies of the time, leaving her impressed with the possibilities of creating art outside the strict academic expectations. She was closely associated with Surrealists, and her intimacy with the group is evident in a collage from 1935 — created with Esteban Francés, Oscar Domínguez, and Marcel Jean — done in the popular surrealist technique of cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse). After the rise of Fascism in France and Spain, Varo emigrated to Mexico in 1941, where she tried to rebuild her creative life. Mexico was a vibrant cultural place at the time, where local intellectuals mingled with expatriates, creating a productive environment for artistic experiments. Once there, Varo became close with another Surrealist, Leonora Carrington, and continued developing her visual language further. The trauma of war and displacement marked her first works from this period. In 1947, she decided to stay in Mexico, and her practice continued flourishing, featuring fantastical explorations of otherworldly scenes with female protagonists and supernatural forces. Varo died in 1963, leaving behind over 500 works, most of which were created in Mexico.
Remedios Varo at Gallery Wendi Norris
A Visionary Line expands the growing international recognition of Varo's oeuvre, manifested through numerous museum acquisitions and exhibitions, including her noteworthy inclusion in the 59th Venice Biennale The Milk of Dreams (2022), and the exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, Remedios Varo: Science Fictions (2023). Her work was also included in the major touring exhibition IMAGINE! 100 Years of International Surrealism (2024–2026). The exhibition Remedios Varo: A Visionary Line will be on view at Gallery Wendi Norris in its offsite iteration in New York City from May 8th until June 1st, 2024.
