LONDON.- The Design Museum unveiled its landmark autumn exhibition exploring Surrealism’s impact on the world of design this past Friday. For the first time in a major UK exhibition, Surrealism’s relationship to the design world is told up to the present day. Artworks and objects from Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp and Leonora Carrington can be seen alongside pieces by Sarah Lucas, Björk, Tim Walker and Dior.

On October 14th Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 opened to the public at the Design Museum in London. It surveys the ground-breaking Surrealism movement and how it not only revolutionised art, but also design: from decorative arts and furniture to interiors, fashion, photography and film. This is the first time the Design Museum has explored the relationship of fine art to design on this scale in a major exhibition.

The exhibition covers nearly 100 years, and close to 350 objects are on display. Some of the world’s most famous Surrealist paintings and sculptures – such as Dalí’s Lobster Telephone and Man Ray’s The Gift (Le Cadeau) – go on show alongside dozens of contemporary pieces of art and design. Nearly a third of the objects on show are from the past 50 years. Many of the objects on show are on loan from the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, with other pieces coming on loan from private collections and leading institutions including Tate and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

Objects of Desire is split into four sections, focussing on Surrealism’s influence on everyday objects, interior design, fashion and the body, and the mind. It starts with an examination of Surrealism’s beginnings from the 1920s and considers the crucial role that design played in its evolution from the very beginning. Everyday objects and interiors were embraced by the movement’s early protagonists, as artists sought to capture the aura or mysterious side of ordinary household objects. Artists including Dalí, Magritte, Meret Oppenheim and Man Ray experimented with an entirely new form of sculpture, by creating absurd objects from found materials and items. Visitors can see some of the most famous examples of these early surrealist sculptures, such as Man Ray’s Cadeau/Audace (1921) comprising of a traditional flat iron studded with nails, Magritte’s painting and sculpture This is a Piece of Cheese (Ceci est un morceau de fromage) (1936 or 1937), and Marcel Duchamp’s Porte-Bouteilles (1959 re-edition of lost 1914 original), a so-called ‘readymade’ artwork made from a bottle rack and considered one of the most influential sculptures of the 20th century.

It was from the 1940s when inspiration began to move in the opposite direction, as designers began looking to Surrealist art for ideas to create surprising, even humorous objects. The humble bicycle became a common motif, and visitors will see Gae Aulenti’s Tour (1993), a table made from a glass top supported by four bicycle wheels set in chrome forks, Jasper Morrison’s own ‘readymade’ Handlebar Table (1982) and Sella (1957), by brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, which is composed of a bicycle saddle mounted on a post fixed into a hemispherical base, blurring the boundary between furniture and art.

The section on Surrealism and the body examines the movement’s embrace of the human form as a canvas. No other modern art and design movement has focused so intensively on the body, sexuality and desire. The exhibition includes photographs showing the likes of Marcel Duchamp dressed as his female alter ego, Rrose Selavy, while Claude Cahun’s Self-Portrait (in the Mirror) of c.1928 is a striking expression of her style and with a composition that blurs conventional gender indicators. Alongside these are contemporary works including Sarah Lucas’ Cigarette Tits, which uses the language of the tabloids to expose stereotypes of female sexuality, and Najla el Zein’s Hay, from her series ‘Sensorial Brushes’, which draws attention to the sensory pleasures offered by everyday materials.

The exhibition also shines a spotlight on Surrealism’s specific significance here in the UK. This includes the partnership between Salvador Dalí and the British poet and art patron, Edward James, whose friendship and collaboration resulted in the creation of world-famous Surrealist interior design pieces. These included the Mae West Lips sofas, described as the single most important piece of Surrealist furniture in the UK. Five versions were originally created in 1938 by Dalí on the suggestion of James. The version on show in the exhibition is on loan from Brighton Museums and will be seen in the exhibition alongside a pair of Champagne Lamps, another of their collaborations. These take the form of a Victorian standard lamp but subvert it with a base made from whimsically oversized ‘champagne glasses’ in brass. These are united with one of the four original Lobster Telephone works by Dalí, also commissioned by Edward James for his London residence. Where most Surrealism exhibitions usually show this piece in isolation as an art object, here it will be spotlighted as a piece of functional design, albeit a wildly imaginative and sculptural one.

Surrealism’s influence on fashion, which began in the 1930s, is also a major strand of the exhibition. Several Surrealist artists also worked as fashion photographers, including Lee Miller and Man Ray, and some such as Dalí and de Chirico created covers for fashion magazines such as Vogue. Photographs and vintage copies of these magazines are on show to highlight these connections, and they are seen together with Surrealism-inspired photography for modern-day magazines such as Tim Walker’s 2013 photo shoot with actress Tilda Swinton for W Magazine.

Dalí’s collaboration with the French fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli resulted in several ground-breaking designs. Their first collaborative piece, the Telephone Dial Powder Compact, is a highlight of the exhibition - this must-have 1930s accessory was so successful that it was widely faked. The exhibition also highlights Surrealism’s enduring influence on Maison Schiaparelli, the haute couture house created by Schiaparelli in 1927. Two stunning contemporary gowns will be on show: one uses Schiaparelli’s signature pink on a shocking minidress with a muscular shape, and the other is a modern reprise of her iconic Skeleton Dress. Both demonstrate the maison’s creative director Daniel Roseberry’s contemporary take on Elsa Schiaparelli’s design language. Visitors will also see Maria Grazia Chuiri’s ‘Salvador Dalí’ ensemble, inspired by Dalí’s historical collaboration with Christian Dior on costumes for ‘The Ball of the Century’ in Venice. Mary Katrantzou, Iris van Herpen and emerging Afro-surrealist inspired fashion designer Yasmina Atta have also loaned garments to the exhibition.

Surrealists worked with the objects around them. Currently, those everyday objects include powerful technology systems that govern our lives in ways far beyond what was previously thought possible. The exhibition examines how contemporary artists and designers are embracing these rapid changes to shake up the creative process, discover new tools, and think differently. For example, sketches on show by contemporary designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, who use an intuitive, automatic drawing process to discover new imagery and forms. This represents a 21st-century continuation of the strategies by which the early Surrealists hoped to invite chance into the creative process, allow the subconscious to find expression, and free themselves from conventional art and design practice.

Also on show are examples of Sketch furniture which is traced by the designer’s hand and body in mid-air using motion capture. The spontaneously drawn forms are translated into a digital file, and then 3D printed to create functional furniture. Design studio Front innovated this method in 2005 to introduce instinct and physicality into the design process, and it is one of the most striking examples of how technology is offering exciting new avenues for Surrealist ideas.

Tim Marlow, the Design Museum’s CEO and Director, said: “From its very beginnings, Surrealism looked to design and everyday objects for inspiration, but few are aware of the movement’s decisive impact on design. This eye-opening exhibition takes visitors on a fascinating journey through 100 years of this radical relationship, and it brings the story right up to the present day for the very first time. The exhibition is both a landmark in the history of Surrealism and design and part of a rich and ongoing story of London’s engagement with one of the great cultural movements of the last century.”

Kathryn Johnson, Curator of Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – at the Design Museum, said: “If you think Surrealism fizzled out in the 1960s, think again. This exhibition shows that it is still alive and well and that it never really went away. The early Surrealists were survivors of the First World War and the 1918 influenza pandemic, and their art was in part a reaction to those horrors. Today, in the context of dizzying technological change, war and another global pandemic, Surrealism’s spirit feels more alive than ever in contemporary design.”

The Design Museum is the world’s leading museum devoted to contemporary architecture and design. Its work encompasses all elements of design, including fashion, product and graphic design. Since it opened its doors in 1989 the museum has displayed everything from an AK-47 to high heels designed by Christian Louboutin. It has staged over 100 exhibitions, welcomed over seven million visitors and showcased the work of some of the world’s most celebrated designers and architects including Paul Smith, Zaha Hadid, Jonathan Ive, Frank Gehry, Eileen Gray and Dieter Rams.

On 24 November 2016, The Design Museum relocated to Kensington, west London. John Pawson has converted the interior of a 1960s modernist building to create a new home for the Design Museum giving it three times more space in which to show a wider range of exhibitions and significantly extend its learning programme. In 2020, the Design Museum was awarded £2,968,634 by Arts Council England from the Culture Recovery Fund announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and nearly £1 million National Lottery funding through the Arts Council’s Emergency Response Fund. Since opening in Kensington in 2016, the Design Museum has hosted major exhibitions including Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, Moving to Mars, Amy: Beyond the Stage, Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street, Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers, Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life and California: Designing Freedom.

10 Unmissable Highlights from the exhibition

Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – Today

1. Lobster telephone by Salvador Dalí

This is one of the exhibition’s most iconic works and is key in illustrating Surrealism’s transition from art to design. Dalí designed it for the collector Edward James, and in the show it is positioned next to a Mae West sofa to bring to mind an image of James’ wild interiors. It is a fully functioning telephone, designed to give the impression that its user is kissing the lobster when speaking into the receiver. Dalí saw both lobsters and telephones as erotic objects, and his first designs for this object were titled the ‘Aphrodisiac Telephone.’

2. Destino by Salvador Dalí

The product of a collaboration between Dalí and Disney, Destino is a surrealist ballet telling the love story of Chronos – the personification of time – and a shapeshifting woman. Although the short film was only officially released in 2003, the fact of Dalí’s involvement with Disney in the 1940s is testament to Surrealism’s stature in the US, and its influence on popular culture at this time. In the film, viewers can spot familiar scenes from Dalí’s paintings, such as desert landscapes, melting clocks and reoccurring eye motifs.

3. Porte-Bouteilles by Duchamp

This is a 1964 re-edition of Duchamp’s 1914 original Porte-Bouteilles, or bottle rack. A ready-made sculpture, the original was bought at a department store in Paris. Duchamp didn't think to keep it, and it was only when the piece became famous later that he got an identical rack from the same store and remade it. Placing this mass produced, industrial object in an artistic context was a hugely important gesture. It emphasised concept over craft – a key innovation of Surrealist art, and one that is now so influential that its origins are often unconsidered.

4. Look 6 Haute Couture by Schiaparelli

Maison Schiaparelli’s shocking pink dress features a trompe-l'œil pattern embroidered by glass tubes, following the contours of a muscular body. This silhouette is echoed across Maison Schiaparelli’s Spring Summer 21 collection, and is modelled on Elsa Schiaparelli’s 1930s wooden mannequins - a pair called Pascal and Pascaline – that she showed in her shop window in Paris. Completing this assemble in the exhibition is a pair of dangly brass earrings in the shape of with the Maison Schiaparelli signature padlock, and a pair of boots with gold-coloured defined toes, echoing René Magritte’s painting Le Modele Rouge.

5. Hay by Najla El Zein

Created by contemporary designer and sculptor El Zein, this is a piece of porcelain with hay precisely inserted into it to give the impression that it is growing out of the stone. Part of a series called ‘Sensorial Brushes’, this work plays with the transition between familiar and unfamiliar. El Zein’s imaginative use of materials, and the call to her audience to experience the world differently, places her firmly within the Surrealist canon.

6. Fur bracelet by Méret Oppenheim

Méret Oppenheim designed a fur covered bracelet for Elsa Schiaparelli and reportedly wore the prototype whilst meeting with fellow artists Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar at a Parisian café. They played with the idea that anything might be covered in fur, and Oppenheim soon afterwards created her widely celebrated surrealist work Luncheon in Fur / Object - a fur covered cup and saucer, which disrupts expectations by combining the domestic with the uncanny.

7. Cadeau by Man Ray

One of the first works you see in the show is called Cadeau or Gift by Man Ray. The story goes that Man Ray was on his way to one of the first surrealist exhibitions in 1921 and needed to make a piece on the hoof to show. He went into an ironmonger and bought a flat iron and some nails, before proceeding to stick the nails to the flat iron with glue. Not only does it make the iron completely dysfunctional, it also has this aggressive, proto-punk edge. Instead of being a domestic tool for pressing clothes neatly, it becomes a weapon that could rip your clothes. In this sense it resonates nicely with the torn fabrics in Surrealist fashion, which were introduced into fashion by Elsa Schiaparelli, and Salvador Dalí later on, well before they became a feature of punk fashion in the ‘70s and 80s.

8. Sketch Chair by Front Studio

This ‘Sketch Chair’ is designed by literally sketching in mid-air with hand gestures. These gestures are captured using motion capture technology, then translated into 3D printed works. The 3D form captures the original spontaneity and messiness of human movement in a functional piece of furniture. It connects wonderfully with Picasso’s light drawings, shown in a photograph beside the Sketch Chair in the exhibition.

9. Photographs by Tim Walker

Tim Walker is famed for using and developing surrealist imagery in his fashion photography. Both photographs in the exhibition feature Tilda Swinton as a model and collaborator and are from a shoot for W magazine titled ‘Stranger than Paradise’. Walker and Swinton went to Mexico to this wonderful architectural folly created by Edward James - the man who commissioned the Lobster Telephone and Mae West Lips sofa. They used the place as the set for a fashion shoot inspired by Surrealist artists, referencing painters like Leonora Carrington and Leonor Fini. Excitingly, these mysterious and striking photographs will be shown alongside and in dialolgue with original paintings by Carrington and Fini. Walker’s photography also features jewellery by Vicki Beamon, specifically, encrusted lips reminiscent of Dalí jewellery, making the images a happy meeting of Surrealism’s past and present.

10. Kosmos in Blue collection by Yasmina Atta

Working in the spirit of the rapidly expanding Afrosurrealist movement, Yasmina Atta’s Kosmos in Blue – from her graduate collection – is borne of the confluence of different cultures, including the designer’s Nigerian heritage and her interest in Japanese manga and Gundam girls. This piece is a set of embellished leather wings that move intermittently. The foam harness attaching the wings to the wearer’s body has an intentionally DIY-feel, as it was made in Atta’s studio over lockdown when her access to materials was scarce. She wanted the final product to reflect this experience, and as a result the wings represent a more personal and ready-made brand of couture.