This is one of the best articles on art I’ve read in a while. One of the few Alan Woods articles where he starts talking about one thing (Breton) then goes off on a tangent (to surrealism, then to marxism/art).
Surrealism expresses a contradictory (illogical) view of reality. It seeks to express the element of violence and savagery that lurks underneath the thin veneer of bourgeois civilization. The polite manners and “good taste” of bourgeois society is really just a façade that conceals the most terrible suffering, exploitation and repression. Surrealism tears aside the veil of polite hypocrisy and reveals the ugly and repulsive reality that lies behind it.
Paradoxically, the man whose name is most frequently associated with this revolutionary school, Salvador Dali, was a servile defender of the status quo, politically right wing, an admirer of Hitler and Franco, a monarchist and a lackey of the wealthy establishment. Luis Bunuel, by contrast, was a genuine revolutionary. He was sacked for making an atheist film, from which Dali typically disassociated himself, for which Bunuel rewarded him with his fists.
The rest of the article:
http://www.marxist.com/death-andre-breton-revolutionary290905.htm
Tags: film criticism, nifty crap!, politics
