British artist Leonora Carrington has possibly the most enviable biography of all time. Born into a well-heeled family, she rejected the upper-class life set out for her by her strict parents. A wild and beautiful Carrington escaped from the nuns trying to educate her and the aristocrats trying to marry her, and ran away to the Surrealists - eloping to Paris with German artist Max Ernst, drinking in cafes with Louis Aragon, Salvador Dalí, Paul and Nusch Eluard, Marcel Duchamp and André Breton. After a divorce and short stint in an asylum, Carrington moved to Mexico City in 1943, where she remarried and remained, painting and writing prolifically, 'til her death in 2011.
This tale of rebellion and romance - not to mention the male counterparts - often eclipses Carrington's extraordinary art and writing. Now, following a major Tate Liverpool exhibition, a small collection of Carrington's drawings comes to Mile End's Viktor Wynd museum.
The English-born Mexican artist, surrealist painter, and novelist had a very distinct take on Surrealism. Her works are peopled by animals, plants and magic, that sing of magical realism and Hieronymus Bosch rather than Freud - a figure who preoccupied the other surrealists. Often macabre, always magical, you'll be able to discover Leonora Carrington's imaginative universe in East London this autumn.
What | Leonora Carrington, Viktor Wynd Museum |
Where | Viktor Wynd Museum, 11 Mare St, London, E8 4RP | MAP |
Nearest tube | Mile End (underground) |
When |
17 Sep 16 – 22 Jan 17, Open Wednesday - Sunday 12pm - 10:30pm |
Price | £Free |
Website | Click here for more information |