STRANGE GAZE:

SURREALISM AT CROSS LANE PROJECTS

EMILY ALLCHURCH, HANS BELLMER, DAN COOMBS, EMMA COUSIN,  MARK FAIRNINGTON, IAN FRITH POWELL, MARTIN GREENLAND, DERECK HARRIS, DENISE HAWRYSIO, MIKE HEALEY, JAMES MACKIE
BEX MASSEY, PASCAL ROUSSON, REBECCA SCOTT, PERDITA SINCLAIR, SUZY WILLEY

5 October to 24 November 2024

Exhibition Details

Cross Lane Projects are pleased to present Strange Gaze: Surrealism at Cross Lane Projects, a group exhibition bringing together 16 contemporary artists from across the UK.

Strange Gaze: Surrealism at Cross Lane Projects continues the world-wide celebrations marking 100 years of surrealism.

The word ‘surrealist’ (suggesting ‘beyond reality’) was coined by the French avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire in the preface to a play performed in 1917. Surrealism aimed to revolutionise human experience: balancing a rational vision of life with one that asserts the power of the unconscious and dreams. The movement’s artists, including Jean Arp, Max Ernst, René Magritte and Salvador Dalí, found magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional.

Today’s neo-surrealism neither smoothly continues surrealism’s original projects, nor makes a clean break with them. Instead, it adapts the pioneers’ discourse to what each artist finds pertinent at the present juncture.

The exhibition, curated by the artist Rebecca Scott, brings together 16 artists with dreamlike and figurative works that reference and react to the current political and ecological context. Artists include: Emily Allchurch, Hans Bellmer, Dan Coombs, Emma Cousin, Mark Fairnington, Ian Frith Powell, Martin Greenland, Dereck Harris, Denise Hawrysio, Mike Healey, James Mackie, Bex Massey, Pascal Rousson, Rebecca Scott, Perdita Sinclair and Suzy Willey.

Cross Lane Publishing presents:
STRANGE GAZE:
SURREALISM AT CROSS LANE PROJECTS

Published on occasion of the exhibition.

Strange Gaze: Surrealism at Cross Lane Projects, continues the world-wide celebrations marking 100 years of surrealism. Today’s neo-surrealism neither smoothly continues surrealism’s original projects, nor makes a clean break with them. Instead, it adapts the pioneers’ discourse to what each artist finds pertinent at the present juncture. The exhibition, curated by the artist Rebecca Scott, brings together 16 artists with dreamlike and figurative works that reference and react to the current political and ecological context.

This publication features original texts:

  • The obscure object of neo-surrealism by Glenn Ward.
  • Ostranenie in Action by Peter Suchin.
  • The Thief of Baghdad by Mike Healey.

… More Information.

Image Gallery

Image Gallery includes works by: Emily Allchurch: Waiting for Inspiration (after Bellini), Archival C-type (mounted on aluminium, with UV seal), 78.7cm x 125cm. Edition No.4: Worldscape (after Patinir), 2008, Archival C-type (mounted on aluminium, with UV seal), 95cm x 105.7cm Edition No.5 (Last available).
Hans Bellmer: The Doll, etching, 67.5 x 51.5cm. Private Collection: Sans titre (Femmes cordes), etching, 66.5 x 50cm. Private Collection: Zwei Frauenakte, etching, 51 x 33.5cm. Private Collevtion.
Dan Coombs: English Corner, 2019, oil on canvas, 150 x 200cm: Secrets, 2019, oil on canvas, 150 x 200cm.
Emma Cousin: Burrow, 2023, oil on canvas, 90 x 115 cm.
Mark Fairnington: Orchid Tree over Hoo, 2024, oil on canvas, 130x170cm.
Ian Frith Powell: Song without Words, 2011, oil on canvas, 86 x 96cm: Magnetic North, 2015, oil on canvas, 86 x 96cm: Folio Sacra, Library of Babel, 2016, oil on canvas, 86 x 96cm.
Martin Greenland: No.1 Paradise Square, 2023, oil on canvas, 45.5cm x 35.5cm: Theatre, 2022, oil on linen, 90.5 x 122 cm.
Dereck Harris: Mythopoeic Altar (Vigeland), 2022, acrylic on paper, 125cm x 155cm: Mythopoeic Manoeuvres II (Vigeland), 2024, acrylic on paper, 125cm x 155cm.
Denise Hawrysio: St. Basil Fire Dream, 2024, digital print, 16.5cm x 25cm: Eye in Mirror, 2023, digital print, 16.5cm x 25cm.
Mike Healey: THREE MAENADS, RESTING, 2023, decalcomania collage, 80 x 80cm: FRACTURED LANDSCAPE, 2016, decalcomania collage, 100 x 130 cm.
James Mackie: Rocinante, 2020, oil on canvas, 127cm x 97cm: Golden Helmet of Mambrino, 2019, oil on canvas, 127cm x 97cm.
Bex Massey: What a Dick Van Dyke, 2023, oil and enamel on canvas, 120cm x 170cm x 5cm: Let them eat cake she didn’t say and other things, 2023, oil on canvas, 55cm x 70cm x 2cm.
Pascal Rousson: Untitled, 2020, acrylic on board: 003, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 61cm x 71cm.
Rebecca Scott, The Fates, 2008, oil on canvas, 102 x 76cm.
Perdita Sinclair: Slipstream 1, 2024, oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm: Slipstream 2, 2024, oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm: Solito 1, 2024, oil on canvas, 120 x 70 cm: Solito 2, 2024, oil on canvas, 120 x 70 cm.
Suzy Willey: Ticker Tape, 2024, oil on canvas, 40 x 50cm: Air India, 2024, oil on canvas, 40 x 50cm: Hats off, 2024, oil on canvas, 40 x 50cm.
Photography by Rebecca Larkin. All works copyright the artists.