{"id":7006,"date":"2026-06-18T07:11:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7006"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:11:34","slug":"surreal-figures-step-from-leonora-carringtons-paintings-into-shape-of-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7006","title":{"rendered":"Surreal Figures Step from Leonora Carrington\u2019s Paintings into \u2018Shape of Dreams\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Surreal<\/p>\n

Raised in a wealthy, well-connected family in England, the young Leonora Carrington<\/a> (1917-2011) glommed onto stories her mother and grandmother told of Celtic folk tales about mythical beings in Ireland. Her imagination ran rampant as a child, and a rebellious spirit earned her expulsion from more than one convent school for antics like writing backwards<\/a> and even trying to levitate. Later, her father insisted she be presented to the court of King George V at a debutante ball and was expected to \u201cmarry well<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Art and fantasy continued to call to Carrington, though, and not to be sallied by social convention, she attended the Chelsea School of Art, discovered Surrealism at the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition<\/em>, and developed a close relationship with artist Max Ernst. Over time, through Ernst\u2019s connections, she got to know veritable art historical titans like Andr\u00e9 Breton, Salvador Dal\u00ed, Joan Mir\u00f3, Pablo Picasso, and more.<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201cGato de la Noche\u201d (2010), lost-wax bronze casting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The prolific artist may be known foremost for her otherworldly paintings, but the artist\u2019s oeuvre extends far beyond the two-dimensional surface. Shape of Dreams<\/em> at L\u2019SPACE Gallery<\/a> highlights Carrington\u2019s imaginative approach to sculpture and wearable art, particularly through large-scale lost-wax bronze sculptures and gold-plated jewelry. The vast majority of the sculptures were cast toward the end of Carrington\u2019s lifetime, with just a few made posthumously.<\/p>\n

Dreamy surrealist fictions seeped into every aspect of Carrington\u2019s work. She was profoundly influenced by traumatic experiences during World War II, which led to a months-long stay in a psychiatric institution. Once she was discharged, she eventually settled in Mexico, where she lived in a kind of exile and made surreal work<\/a> that investigates the nature of transience and uncertainty, especially through motifs like floating creatures and shifting landscapes. \u201cThere are exhibitions that begin with scholarship, and there are exhibitions that begin with intuition,\u201d the gallery says. \u201cShape of Dreams<\/em> began with a simple but persistent question: what happens when the fantastical beings that inhabit Leonora Carrington\u2019s paintings step out of the canvas and into our world?\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the mythical, pagan character of the artist\u2019s three-dimensional works are drawn directly from the figures in her paintings. Cloaked figures, strange masks, and human-animal hybrids populate a fantastical, magical world. \u201cThe sculptures appear almost in procession, as though Carrington\u2019s creatures, priestesses, hybrid animals, and dream-beings have stepped out of the pictorial plane and entered the gallery space,\u201d says a statement.<\/p>\n

Shape of Dreams <\/em>continues through July 25 in New York. You may also be interested in a new biopic titled Leonora in the Morning Light<\/a><\/em>, plus the exhibition Leonora Carrington: Portrait of a Singular Artist,<\/em> which continues through July 19 at the Mus\u00e9e du Luxembourg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a
Detail of \u201cGato de la Noche\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
\u201cThe Inventor of Atole\u201d (2011), lost-wax bronze casting, 51 x 23 x 31.5 inches, A\/P edition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cLooking In\u201d (2010), lost-wax bronze casting, 5 x 13 x 12.5 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
\u201cBailarin,\u201d 24k gold-plate on 0.925 sterling silver, gemstones, 3 x 2 x 0.3 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cLa Madre de los Lobos\u201d (2008), lost-wax bronze casting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
\u201cUnknown\u201d (2010), lost-wax bronze casting, 42.5 x 19 x 20 inches, edition 7 of 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cCatwoman\u201d (2011), lost-wax bronze casting, 36 x 11 x 24 inches, edition 8 of 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Surreal Figures Step from Leonora Carrington\u2019s Paintings into \u2018Shape of Dreams\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raised in a wealthy, well-connected family in England, the young Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) glommed onto stories her mother and grandmother told of Celtic folk tales about mythical beings in Ireland.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7006\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}