“The mere word freedom is the only one that still excites me. I deem it capable of indefinitely sustaining the old human fanaticism.” — André Breton
In 1924, as the world was still reeling from the upheaval of World War I and the influenza pandemic, the first Surrealist Manifesto was published in Paris. It embodied a powerful spirit of anarchism and revolution, striving to develop means of resisting oppressive systems and imagining a future founded on freedom and equality. What began as a literary movement ignited an artistic revolution, liberating creative imagination from the constraints of reason and traditional morality. This movement influenced nearly every form of cultural production and gradually shaped the collective imagination of subsequent generations. Today, we use the term “surreal” to describe things that are beyond imagination and comprehension.
In the same year, Kafka’s life quietly concluded amid the social upheaval of the time. In The Metamorphosis, he captured the unease and anxiety felt by people entering the industrial age of the early 20th century. He pondered the possibilities for humanity when the external world had become absurd, and life itself resembled a series of internal nightmares and metaphors.
In 2024, as we emerge from the shadow of COVID-19 and face ongoing geopolitical conflicts, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by artificial intelligence, sweeps across the globe. If algorithms can think and feel, how do we recalibrate our understanding of reality and humanity? A century later, we grapple with issues and seek solutions much like the generation that saw the rise of Surrealism. What insights can contemporary life draw from this?
In 2024, YIRI ARTS is pleased to present the group exhibition “The Metamorphosis,” employs surrealism as a verb—unleashing the subversive power of perception to challenge the various issues of our time. Our aim is to explore previously undefined terms, which may be fantastical, transformative, or possibly hybrid, to narrate a world full of infinite possibilities and freedom.
This winter, as Breton once said, let Surrealism become the “invisible light” that will one day help us overcome our adversaries.
“All roses will turn blue, and trees will become glass.”
Participating artists: Grgur Akrap、Raffael Bader、Cai Ruei-Heng、Daniel Sueiras Fanjul、Grip Face、Matthias Garff、Beate Höing、Koji Kamamoto、Ana Malta、Iseult Perrault、Evi Pangestu、Shin Ikeda、Kuo Jun-You、Lin Shih-Yung、Chiu Huai-Hsuan、Shih Yung-Chun、Sun Pei-Mao、Wu Wei-Ting、Wang Guan-Jhen、Taichi Nakamura
