Interpretation of Surrealism among University Fine Art Students - Analysis of Selected Surrealist Work by Fourth Year Students at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Surrealism, whether in drawing or painting, remains an engaging and fascinating Art style and continues to be of great influence in the way artists, including students of Art, perceive self-expression and generation of new meaning in their work. Surrealism is considered among the most influential artistic movements of the 20th Century. It started in the 1920s as a literary movement that eventually took on a visual dimension, its foundational principles have continued to influence the thought process and styles of many modern artists in the realm of self-expression. Though students at the University undertake drawing in the context of a number of units in their undergraduate programme, surrealism is introduced as a fourth-year unit since they are expected to have adequately mastered drawing and consolidated an expressive individual style over time. This study examines, through analysis of selected works, the extent to which students are able to, firstly, internalize the concept and visual tenets of surrealism such as distortion, abstraction, and juxtaposition of forms and apply these tenets in the composition of new artistic work of their own. Secondly, the study sought to determine whether their drawings demonstrated individual capacity for self-expression and the derivation of meaning that appealed to the audience. The students were introduced to surrealism through examination and discussion of examples of previous students’ surrealist work, analysis of the subject matter, the origination of ideas, and style of execution in pencil as a manipulative tool. The students were also introduced to rendering surrealist images from various sources into artistic compositions that are interpretable by the audience and, therefore, bear the ability to generate artistic meaning. This being a drawing unit and for the purpose of uniformity of medium, they were instructed to work in pencil on A3 drawing paper. They were expected to internalize each other’s work through class presentations and focused critiques. The students, subsequently, produced a large body of drawings that were sampled and selected in terms of artistic execution and/or display of a significant impetus for self-expression. They were ultimately expected to demonstrate the ability to interpret the meaning of imageries derived from the unconscious mind or whatever dreamlike sources they may have referenced. The work was analysed in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the analytical framework.