CaixaForum Barcelona presents a dialogue between Surrealism and design

A total of 285 artworks and objects are brought together to create a dialogue in the exhibition Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design, 1924-2020, which explores the relationship between the two disciplines over the last century.

Jointly organised by ”la Caixa” and the Vitra Design Museum, and featuring pieces from collections and museums from around the world, the exhibition at CaixaForum Barcelona features works by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, Lee Miller, Giorgio de Chirico, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Marcel Duchamp and Meret Oppenheim, and designers and architects like Gae Aulenti, Le Corbusier, Antoni Gaudí, Ray Eames and Achille Castiglioni.

The subconscious, dream, eroticism, obsession, chance and the irrational were all elements that the Surrealist artists fused into their works, which were often everyday objects whose forms they altered and subverted. At a point where the discipline was most critical of rationalism, design also appropriated these elements.

The exhibition is a multidisciplinary exploration that invites the visitor to discover formal and conceptual allusions to Surrealism in paintings, sculptures, drawings, objects, posters, magazines, books, photographs, historic films and furniture.

The event was attended by deputy general director of ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation, Elisa Durán.

Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design, 1924-2020. Place: CaixaForum Barcelona (Av. de Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia , 6-8). Dates: From 28 February to 7 June 2020.