Surreal Figures Step from Leonora Carrington’s Paintings into ‘Shape of Dreams’

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. 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 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 “marry well.”

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, and developed a close relationship with artist Max Ernst. Over time, through Ernst’s connections, she got to know veritable art historical titans like André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and more.

a surreal bronze sculpture of a cloaked figure — “Gato de la Noche” (2010), lost-wax bronze casting

The prolific artist may be known foremost for her otherworldly paintings, but the artist’s oeuvre extends far beyond the two-dimensional surface. Shape of Dreams at L’SPACE Gallery highlights Carrington’s 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’s lifetime, with just a few made posthumously.

Dreamy surrealist fictions seeped into every aspect of Carrington’s 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 that investigates the nature of transience and uncertainty, especially through motifs like floating creatures and shifting landscapes. “There are exhibitions that begin with scholarship, and there are exhibitions that begin with intuition,” the gallery says. “Shape of Dreams began with a simple but persistent question: what happens when the fantastical beings that inhabit Leonora Carrington’s paintings step out of the canvas and into our world?”

Indeed, the mythical, pagan character of the artist’s 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. “The sculptures appear almost in procession, as though Carrington’s creatures, priestesses, hybrid animals, and dream-beings have stepped out of the pictorial plane and entered the gallery space,” says a statement.

Shape of Dreams continues through July 25 in New York. You may also be interested in a new biopic titled Leonora in the Morning Light, plus the exhibition Leonora Carrington: Portrait of a Singular Artist, which continues through July 19 at the Musée du Luxembourg.

a detail of a surreal bronze sculpture of a cloaked figure wearing a mask with long rods or spikes — Detail of “Gato de la Noche”

a surreal bronze sculpture in the shape of a round mask with embossed hands — “Looking In” (2010), lost-wax bronze casting, 5 x 13 x 12.5 inches

a surreal bronze sculpture of a phantasmic figure with large hands, a cape or cloak, and a horned headdress — “La Madre de los Lobos” (2008), lost-wax bronze casting

a bronze sculpture of a female figure with a cat-like face — “Catwoman” (2011), lost-wax bronze casting, 36 x 11 x 24 inches, edition 8 of 10

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