The Omnipotence Of Dream

Salford Museum And Art Gallery

19th October - 25th February 2025

2024 marks 100 years since Andre Breton founded the Surrealist art movement.His manifesto has proved inspirational to numerous artists since. This exhibition brings Surrealist works out of Salford’s collections and presents them alongside direct contemporary responses.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery contains a wealth of Surrealist treasures including Marion Adnams, Eileen Agar and John Tunnard. These British Surrealists followed the movement’s concepts of looking at the world through fantasy and dreams. Six works from the collections have been used as inspiration for 16 contemporary artists to produce their own artwork, including Sarah Eyre, Jeffrey Knopf, Olha Pryymak and Paula Chambers.

For David Hancock the work of the Surrealists has been a long-standing influence within his painting practice. He will respond to all six works from the collections to create a solo presentation within the gallery. A section of the gallery will also be devoted to individual responses from fine art students from the University of Salford and Leeds Arts University.

In his digital manipulation of objects, Jeffrey Knopf is influenced by the theory of Defamiliarisation, in which everyday objects are rendered obscure.Knopf applies this technique to the paintings of Milner and Fordham. Though constructed two-dimensionally in paint, Milner’s structural masses take on a specific significance when filtered through Knopf’s manipulation of the forms. Knopf’s translation acts to establish something more tangible, Through Knopf’s translation to three-dimensions, these abstracted forms take on a greater significance that places their legacy firmly in the present day. In this context, Milner and Fordham’s forms cannot help but resonate with the aftermath of global conflicts, both past and present.