Grete Stern: Sueos (Dreams)
Presentation House
Gallery, North
Vancouver
Feb 24, 2001 - Apr 8,
2001
 Suežno No 28: Amorsin sin ilusion, (1951), photomontage |
Grete Stern emigrated to Buenos Aires in 1936 as a young modernist photographer. Until 1985, she produced an astounding amount of innovative work. The central focus of the Presentation House exhibition is a series of 150 photomontages entitled "Suenos" or Dreams. She created them between 1948-51 as illustrations to accompany a series of psychoanalytical articles in an Argentine woman's magazine. In these surrealistic and frequently bizarre pictures, Stern combined disparate imagery to convey her personal thoughts and social concerns as well as address the requirements of each assignment. She obviously had a field day with the work, manipulating scale and proportions and distorting perspectives to illustrate all manner of dreams: of fears and ridiculous situations; inhibitions, trials and burdens; children, fish and animals; falling and escape or triumph and domination. Her montage technique is precise and the pictures are fascinating. On Saturday, February 24 at 2:00 p.m., the artist's daughter will present a talk on her mother's work that is open to the public.
© Mia Johnson