Peppermint Quip
Lore and Disappointment
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is hosting a surrealism exhibit titled, Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of surrealism. I am a bit of a surrealist enthusiast and I do find the show worth checking out. It is on view until Monday, February 16. PMA tickets are also good for two days and grant you access to the Rodin Museum.
The exhibit features some great Joan Mirós and I discovered some artists I hadn’t heard of like Hungarian-American André Kertész and George Platt Lynes.
The Leonora Carrington and Remedies Varo room features the strongest curation. It positions two women surrealists in conversation with each other based on their interest in the occult and location in Mexico.
The exhibition requires a special ticket and spectator wise, it was wall to wall and it makes sense. History is unfortunately cynical which is reflected by the current trendiness of fascism, world war(s) and genocides, and the threat to free expression. At some point in my lifetime, I would love to see an exhibit dedicated to female and/or surrealists of color.
Visitors at these surrealist exhibits gravitate towards the artists that never left pop culture like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. Would a surrealist show be a blockbuster if it was just marketed as a surrealist show and didn’t feature stars? I’d like to think yes due to the never-ending timeliness and though provocation that surrealism offers.
There were some questionable hanging arrangements within the exhibit that reminded me of the abstract expressionist room at LACMA. The room is crammed with Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, and other abstract expressionists least impressive works like a shrine to an only child going up the steps in a proud parents’ home. The work is seemingly randomly even though some of the artists have a clear relationship with each other, such as marriage and friendship.
In PMA’s exhibition, Kay Sage, one of the only female artists in the show, is hung next to Wifredo Lam and Joan Miró. Color wise, her architectural work looks out of place as her piece has a yellow ochre undertone. While Lam’s work is figurative and rooted in mythology and Miró’s work is mostly greyscale.
Sage was married to Yves Tanguay, also in the exhibition, and I caught a presentation of their work together at Helly Nehmad in NYC a few summers ago. I would have loved to see Sage’s work in conversation with people she had close relationships with.
PMA has The Lives of the Surrealists by Desmond Morris in their giftshop and I definitely recommend reading it before or after seeing the exhibit. It’s the most salacious art history book I’ve read and it’s an anthology of sorts you can use as reference. The book includes photos of the artists and their work but more importantly it includes gossip about their personal lives. Reading it can prep you for the gossip betwixt the works of the exhibit.
After leaving the museum I went to 1-900-ICE CREAM in Rittenhouse Square. I got the peppermint bark and sweet cream swirl excitedly because I had never had bad peppermint bark flavored anything. Until I licked this. I even got the $1 white chocolate shell sprinkled with candy cane crumbs to really feel like a Christmas movie protagonist.
Despite my best efforts to commit to the experience and the sales girls’ success in getting me to spend an extra dollar, it didn’t taste like anything. I felt like a dog licking water from one of those massive bowls cafes leave on the sidewalk in the summer.
What I should have asked before getting the flavor was, “Does it tastes like Ghiradelli’s Peppermint Bark chocolate that I have been addicted to since my mom bought it at Border’s (RIP) since I was an adolescent? Does it taste like the candy cane white chocolate Hershey Kisses I’ve dream about until November 15th every year since buying them on clearance one time in college?”
No.
Because I didn’t ask for specifics in relationship to quality, I was disappointed. I will try to apply this lesson to everything in life moving forward.