You Are at the Heart of Change. Surrealism and Anti-Fascism

This show presents Surrealism as an international movement deeply involved in politics and society. It sets out to revise the common belief that Surrealism was mainly a painting style for dreams, fantasy and magic, and traces how Surrealists organized against fascism, colonialism and imperialism. It is an expanded version of an exhibition first shown at the Lenbachhaus in Munich, and runs until 10 January 2027.

Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej on the exhibition:

As an artistic and political movement, Surrealism had an international reach and espoused internationalist views. Rooted in art and literature, it had much broader ambitions: to revolutionize society and redefine life itself. ‘To transform the world,’ said Marx; ’to change life,’ said Rimbaud: ‘for us, these two goals are one,’ declared André Breton in 1935.

From its emergence in the 1920s, Surrealists grappled with many political programs that contradicted the ideals of equality and freedom. They condemned European colonial projects, organized against fascists, fought in the Spanish Civil War, and joined the resistance during World War II - only to be deemed ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, face internment or persecution, and ultimately flee Europe or perish on battlefields or in camps. Their resistance was art itself. Through poetry, painting, photography, collage, and exhibition organization, they sought to expose the flaws in the supposedly rational message of the supposedly rational Western civilization.

As fascism gained strength in Europe, as the Nazification of Germany progressed, and as world and colonial wars erupted - the Surrealists did not back down; the protagonists of Surrealism remained radical in their ideological and political choices. Simultaneously, these upheavals resulted in remarkable encounters and truly global solidarity: Prague stood in solidarity with Coyoacán in Mexico; Cairo with the Spanish Republic; Marseille with Fort-de-France in Martinique; Puerto Rico and Paris with Chicago; and London with New York. The thought and action of the Surrealists were characterized by an all-encompassing simultaneity. Accordingly, the exhibition unfolds more like a map than a timeline. The aim here is to present Surrealism as an international movement deeply engaged in society and politics - consistent with how its members perceived it.

The Surrealists demanded absolute freedom and wanted it to permeate every sphere of society. For them, emancipation meant a life free from all dictates of the state, nation, church, or bourgeoisie. They read Freud and Sade, advocated anarchism and socialism, supported Marxism and communism, and opposed fascism and colonialism, as well as all forms of imperialism. They lamented the lack of imagination in most people, feeling offended by the common belief that their art and poetry were merely an eccentric whim. Members of La Main à plume, a group active in Paris under Nazi German occupation and disseminating poems underground, once wrote: ‘If someone comes to tell us that our present has other things on its mind than writing poetry, we will reply: ‘So do we!’’ In 1924, La Révolution surréaliste convinced its readers: ‘If you love love, you will love Surrealism.’ For the Surrealists, transcending political and artistic boundaries was inextricably linked to the affirmation of life, love, and eroticism.

It was this openness to the connections between politics and art that attracted many emancipation movements to Surrealism. Student demonstrations of May 1968, several post-war anti-totalitarian campaigns in Eastern Europe, and even the Black Liberation Movement in the United States were, to some extent, inspired by Surrealist methods and beliefs. The exhibition traces these struggles, attempting to revise the common belief that Surrealism is a painting style solely for depicting dreams, fantasies, and magic; by rejecting the notion of a Surrealist canon, it once again poses the provocative question: ‘What is Surrealism?’

The exhibition You Are at the Heart of Change. Surrealism and Anti-Fascism is an adaptation of the exhibition presented at Lenbachhaus in Munich under the title Aber hier leben? Nein danke. Surrealismus + Antifaschismus [But live here? No, thank you. Surrealism and Anti-Fascism] from October 15, 2024, to March 30, 2025, and was created in cooperation with that institution and the Museum of Art in Łódź. The exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art expands upon that show.

What to expect

The exhibition unfolds more like a map than a timeline. Rather than walking you through one decade after another, it shows the simultaneity of Surrealist activity and the web of connections between cities: Prague and Coyoacán in Mexico, Cairo and the Spanish Republic, Marseille and Fort-de-France in Martinique, Puerto Rico, Paris and Chicago, London and New York.

The material it draws on is poetry, painting, photography, collage and the practice of organizing exhibitions - for the Surrealists, art itself was the form their resistance took. The political thread runs from their condemnation of European colonial projects, organizing against fascists, fighting in the Spanish Civil War and joining the wartime resistance, on to being labelled ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, internment and persecution, flight from Europe or death on battlefields and in camps. You will meet La Main à plume, the group active in occupied Paris that circulated poems underground, and the 1924 line from the journal La Révolution surréaliste: ‘If you love love, you will love Surrealism.’ Alongside readings of Freud and Sade and declarations of anarchism, socialism and Marxism, there is an affirmation of life, love and eroticism.

The closing thread is Surrealism’s afterlife: the student demonstrations of May 1968, post-war anti-totalitarian campaigns in Eastern Europe, and the Black Liberation Movement in the United States. The show expands on the Lenbachhaus exhibition and was made with that institution and the Museum of Art in Łódź.

Tickets, opening hours, and current details are on the Museum of Modern Art website.

Museum profile: Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej.