Chicago Surrealist Group
Encyclopedia
The Chicago Surrealist Group was founded in Chicago, Illinois in July, 1966 by Franklin
and Penelope Rosemont
after a 1965 trip to Paris, during which they had been in contact with André Breton
. Its initial members came from radical left-wing or anarchist backgrounds and had already participated in groups such as the IWW
(calling themselves the Rebel Worker Group and putting out a magazine called the Rebel Worker) and SDS
; indeed, the Chicago group edited an issue of Radical America, the SDS journal, and the SDS printshop printed some of the group's first publications.
in Chicago in 1976. As the name suggests, broader in scope than previous "international" exhibitions, it featured hundreds of works almost exclusively from contemporary participants in surrealism
from thirty-one countries.
Marvelous Freedom/Vigilance of Desire was the name for the catalogue of the 1976 World Surrealist Exhibition. It contains a number of texts and reproductions, as well as a blueprint of the layout of the gallery, with the location of the different "domains" into which the exhibition was organised.
The Chicago Group has also collaborated on the surrealist issue of the journal Race Traitor, and the "Totems Without Taboos" show at the Heartland Cafe in Chicago
. It sporadically publishes a newspaper entitled WHAT Are You Going To Do About It? and the journal Arsenal/Surrealist Subversion.
The Surrealist Movement in the United States was started by the Chicago Surrealist Group as a means of including many of its scattered participants from coast to coast on collective statements and in collective activities.
Participants in the group's activities have included Clarence John Laughlin
, Gerome Kamrowski
and Philip Lamantia
. As participants past and present have been based in cities other than Chicago, the group has never been strictly defined by geography, despite its name. The group has worked with others, such as the Stockholm Surrealist Group, with which it met in Chicago and Stockholm
in 1986, publishing the International Surrealist Bulletin No. 1.
Franklin Rosemont
Franklin Rosemont was a poet, artist, historian, street speaker, and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group...
and Penelope Rosemont
Penelope Rosemont
Penelope Rosemont , attended Lake Forest College. She has been a painter, photographer, collagist and writer, and "graphic designer for [Arsenal/Surrealist Subversions] and other...
after a 1965 trip to Paris, during which they had been in contact with André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
. Its initial members came from radical left-wing or anarchist backgrounds and had already participated in groups such as the IWW
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
(calling themselves the Rebel Worker Group and putting out a magazine called the Rebel Worker) and SDS
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
; indeed, the Chicago group edited an issue of Radical America, the SDS journal, and the SDS printshop printed some of the group's first publications.
Collaborations and projects
The group played a major role in organizing the World Surrealist Exhibition held at Gallery Black SwanGallery Black Swan
Gallery Black Swan, a now-defunct surrealist gallery in Chicago, was the site of the 1976 World Surrealist Exhibition. It later became the site of Michael Jordan's Restaurant.References:***http://forum.psrabel.com/portal/ausstellungen.html *...
in Chicago in 1976. As the name suggests, broader in scope than previous "international" exhibitions, it featured hundreds of works almost exclusively from contemporary participants in surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
from thirty-one countries.
Marvelous Freedom/Vigilance of Desire was the name for the catalogue of the 1976 World Surrealist Exhibition. It contains a number of texts and reproductions, as well as a blueprint of the layout of the gallery, with the location of the different "domains" into which the exhibition was organised.
The Chicago Group has also collaborated on the surrealist issue of the journal Race Traitor, and the "Totems Without Taboos" show at the Heartland Cafe in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. It sporadically publishes a newspaper entitled WHAT Are You Going To Do About It? and the journal Arsenal/Surrealist Subversion.
The Surrealist Movement in the United States was started by the Chicago Surrealist Group as a means of including many of its scattered participants from coast to coast on collective statements and in collective activities.
Participants in the group's activities have included Clarence John Laughlin
Clarence John Laughlin
Clarence John Laughlin was a United States photographer best known for his surrealist photographs of the U.S. South.Laughlin was born in to a middle class family in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His rocky childhood, southern heritage, and interest in literature influenced his work greatly...
, Gerome Kamrowski
Gerome Kamrowski
Gerome Kamrowski was an American artist and participant in the Surrealist Movement in the United States.He was born in Warren, Minnesota and begun to study art in the early 1930s at the St...
and Philip Lamantia
Philip Lamantia
Philip Lamantia was an American poet and lecturer. Lamantia's visionary poems were ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic which explored the subconscious world of dreams and linked it to the experience of daily life.-Biography:...
. As participants past and present have been based in cities other than Chicago, the group has never been strictly defined by geography, despite its name. The group has worked with others, such as the Stockholm Surrealist Group, with which it met in Chicago and Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1986, publishing the International Surrealist Bulletin No. 1.