Visual Art Paper 2 (Essay) Aug./Sept. 2022

Question 8

 

(a) Define the term surrealism.

 

(b) List any three artists of surrealism.

 

(c) State any five characteristics of surrealism.

 

Observation

The question was attempted by few candidates and performed poorly. They were expected to answer the question in this manner:

(a)                   Definition of Surrealism

-           It is an art technique that allows the subconscious mind to express itself.
-           Art of illogical scenes.
-           It is an art movement that visually represents imagination.
-           It is an artistic movement of the early 20th century.
-           It began in 1920.
-           Cultural movement that developed in Europe after World War I.

 

(b)                    Surrealism artists
-           Giorgio de Chirico.
-           Paul Klee.
-           Salvador Dali.
-           Max Ernest.
-           Graham Sutherland.
-           Andre Breton.
-           Jean Arp.
-           Yues Tanguy.
-           Man Ray.
-           Marcel Duchamp.
-           Leonora Carrington.
-           Rene Magritte.
-           Pablo Picasso.
-           Jean Miro.
-           Pierre Roy.
-           Frida Kahlo.
-           Dorothea Tanning.

 

(c)                    Characteristics of Surrealism
-           Explored instinct and subconscious mind.
-           Interpretation of dream into paintings and drawings.
-           It emphasized man’s thoughts, action and desire.
-           Featuring of dream- like scenes and symbolic images.
-           Irrational/Bizarre/abnormal/assemblages of ordinary objects.
-           Use of puns.
-           Use of personal iconography.
-           It used symbols to convey visual dreams.
-           Explore logical juxtaposition of images.
-           It explored distortion of forms.
-           Exploration of taboo and child-like designs.
-           Use of biometric shapes.
-           Use of games and techniques to create random effects.
-           Featuring actions of automatism and spirit of spontaneity in the artworks.