Guest Author - Debbie Striker
Surrealist painter and sculptor, René Magritte brings the odd to life with inspiring pictures that challenge the viewer. His work stands out because of his unique viewpoints. Spend some time really looking at his creations and see if you can find inspiration for your own projects.
The tragic loss of his mother to suicide at a young age likely colored René’s outlook on life and reality. His life as a while was a combination of opposites. He worked through many styles of painting that included his own original artwork as well as creating forgeries of other famous painters and forging bank notes. His early work was heavily attacked by art critics and then later in life he was acclaimed as a great artist.
His artwork often offsets very accurate versions of real objects set in unlikely situations. Such as his "Empire of Light" series which depicts buildings that have their lights on and are surrounded by darkness, yet the sky above them is bright and sunny. Often, when people view these images, it takes a moment to see what the juxtaposition is. The individual images are so common that our brains don't immediately register the uniqueness of them being placed together.
He also enjoyed creating realistic images and then denying that they are what they appear. The point he was making in these paintings was that no matter how realistic an image is, it can never be the actual object. He proved this point by telling people to try to smoke tobacco from his pipe painting.
Magritte described his paints as "visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself the simple question, "What does that mean?". It does not mean anything because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable."
In May of 2009, the Magritte museum opened to the public in Brussels. The hotel that houses the museum is painted with one of Magritte’s famous paintings on the outside and it a site to behold in itself. Inside you are treated to about 200 original paintings, sculptures and drawings.
In August of 1967, Magritte died of pancreatic cancer. His work continues inspiring many artists as new generations as exposed to his unique view.
Surreal artists offer you a way to look at the world through different eyes and possible discover something new about familiar things. Viewing surreal artwork and contemplating it’s meanings can often lead you to new discoveries in your own work.
