Remedios Varo: Science Fictions

The Spanish-born Surrealist once said: ‘The dream world and the real world are the same.’ This exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago (29 July–27 November) brings together over 20 paintings that speak to this strange slippage between states. Varo fled Europe for Mexico during the Second World War, and it was there that Varo came into her own as an artist, giving up technical illustration and advertising work to dedicate herself fully to painting and drawing. Highlights on show include Useless Science, or The Alchemist (1955), a portrait of an alchemist at work, and Creation of the Birds (1957), which sees a hybrid owl-human figure at a writing desk, conjuring birds to life with a paint brush. A selection of sketches, notebooks and personal possessions offer further insights into the artist’s extraordinary imagination. Find out more on the AIC’s website.

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Harmony (1956), Remedios Varo. Collection Eduardo F. Costantini; © 2023 Remedios Varo, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VEGAP, Madrid

Useless Science, or The Alchemist (1955), Remedios Varo. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City. Photo: Rodrigo Chapa; © 2023 Remedios Varo, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VEGAP, Madrid

Creation of Birds (1957), Remedios Varo. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City. Photo: Rodrigo Chapa; © 2023 Remedios Varo, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VEGAP, Madrid