Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Rene Magritte – when surrealism is mentioned, these are the names that usually come to mind. If you delve deeper into the topic, you can find dozens of other talented artists from around the world. Among them is the artist Remedios Varo, who was born in Spain and lived in Mexico for about 20 years, moving there after the outbreak of World War II.
Remedios Varo studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, famous for its rich collection of paintings from the 16th to 20th centuries. After graduating from the academy, she went to Paris, where she met artists from the group of logicophobics (Grupo Logicofobista), who combined surrealism and spiritualism in their paintings. The group was able to organize only one exhibition of works, and yet a short communication with logicophobists determined Varo’s future path. In those years, she painted infrequently - much less often than in the late Mexican period. She remained in the shadow of more famous artists and poets, but greatly valued the time spent with them in a creative atmosphere.
Varo's paintings are permeated with the spirit of mysticism, alchemy and hermeticism. Particular attention is paid to various mechanisms: the artist’s father was an engineer who worked on hydraulic systems. That’s why you can see fancy devices with tubes and glass containers at Varo’s. She believed that on an invisible level the flora and fauna are closely connected with the scientific and cultural world. The artist was fascinated by Einstein's theory of relativity, she was interested in the ideas of Darwin, Jung, and explored the legends of the Holy Grail. At first, the main characters were women who are in a confined space, later their place was taken by fantastic humanoid creatures and androgynes. Also in the works there is a theme of traveling on unusual vehicles to fabulous places.
Remedios Varo organized her first solo exhibition in Mexico City in 1955. The local public warmly accepted her work, moreover, her paintings influenced Mexican artists who were open to new directions. For this reason, for some time the works of Remedios Varo remained known only in Mexico, and only in the 70s, after the death of the artist, they appeared at exhibitions in other countries.
Source: artic.edu
