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Reviewer Biography
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Displaying the Marvelous: Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, and the Surrealist Exhibitions
By Lewis Kachur The percolation of the Surrealists into the American mindset forms the hub of Chapter 3. Noted here are Dali's repeat of the original show -- a distinct and consumable display of his surrealist 'product'. The epomymous 1938 World Trade Fair forms the greater body of this chapter and is, as Kachur points out, perhaps the most telling of all the Surrealist 'spaces' in its reports on audience interface and response. Central to Kachur's Surrealist history is the repeated cerebral fetishisation of the female form - the combination of mannequin and performer within said spaces, treatment and display of the 'marvel' of femininity. The people's response tells of the niche that the consumer surreal of the thirties and forties had carved, that of a disorientating though wholly pleasurable peep-show. In Chapter 4 the implicit tragedy of Surrealism is detailed. In coming together as a group of equals (reflective of earlier communist motives) often a single piece, 'marvellous' as it was often intended to be, seemed to steal the show so to speak - often to the (arguable) detriment of the encompassing works. Duchamp's 'Mile of String' and its discourse/deconstruction of the function of work in the gallery space, embodies Kachur's point and is featured in the book as part of its design. Finally Chapter 5: here Kachur speaks on Peggy Guggenheim's Art of this Century Gallery and the growing increase in "a form of spectator involvement". He then goes on to talk about the artistic tangents that extended from the original Surrealist works notably Eva Hesse (and other female artists) emulating and reinventing the string works of Duchamp. Kachur's conclusion inserts the Surrealist debate into our modern world view, asserting its contribution to debate on the body, gender and sexuality - especially those within the constructed 'exhibition' space. He seems to conclude that Surrealism is a study in longevity - that in its drifts from logistical to poetical to political and to commercial it could have only ever survived in the spaces discussed. In its fragility of statement and miasmic ideology the ability to capture the potential of the chosen space pulled it through to (commercial) success. Kachurs work makes for a compulsive (and beautifully presented) read for those with an interest in key debates surrounding the body and its interiors/ exteriors so prevalent today. One thing that does puzzle for a book so closely researched is the absence of the photographer Lee Miller, who was also lover to both Penrose and Man Ray. Otherwise the book is extensively detailed, and adds depth to the characters, previously indefinable in the literature. Overall Kashur's book is a wholly recommended work for those with a professional interest in the topic. |
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