Freudian Hip

Ceci n'est pas un cigare

Comments (0) By Nicholas Gerbis Thursday, Jan 27 2011

Surrealism was always a muddled movement; nevertheless, it succeeded in imprinting its aesthetic and stylistic qualities in the collective unconscious. Witness that museum of co-opted rebellions, the dorm room, where Dalis and Magrittes nestle between posters of Che Guevara and decades-defunct punk bands.

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That’s more an indictment of poseurs than of Surrealism, which thrives conspicuously in underground comix, the lowbrow movement, and exhibitions like “Psychological Sightseeing” by Arizona’s Corinne Geertsen. Picture Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python bumpers mixed with “Wondermark” -- a woefully reductionist description, but one which conjures her wry, dark, and outlandish image juxtapositions. Art ought to fascinate, and Geertsen has evidently found her muse in the uniquely creepy, inhuman gravitas of old portraits in which no one smiles, and even infants appear to glower. The effect is both playful and haunting.

Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Dec. 16. Continues through Feb. 20, 2010