Remedios Varo
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Remedios Varo's death, MAM has programmed a memorial exhibition, curated by Marisol Argüelles, which will be open to the public between August 14th and October 26th.
In 2000, MAM was leased 38 works by Remedios Varo from the Walter Gruen and Ana Alexandra Varsoviano de Gruen collection. After a lengthy legal dispute, these works became part of the museum's holdings in 2007. Since their arrival at MAM, many revisions have been made of the work of this Mexico-based, Spanish-born artist who was a member of the Surrealist movement outside Europe.
Remedios Varo's oeuvre possesses a singular, easily recognizable style. It often features stylized human figures carrying out symbolic tasks, which in turn include dreamlike and archetypal elements. Varo's entire body of work is permeated by an atmosphere of mysticism, but one that is embodied in representative figures of the modern secular world. Her art is punctuated by a marked interest in scientific iconography; it is no wonder, then, that with increasing frequency Varo's images are used in popular-audience science literature.
Remedios Varo was born in Gerona, Spain. She was admitted to the Academia de San Fernando in 1924 and later worked as an advertising illustrator. A supporter of the Republic during the Spanish Civil War, she went into exile in Paris and was jailed after the German occupation of the French capital. She was connected to the Surrealist circle and met poet Benjamin Peret through it; together, they emigrated to Mexico. There, Varo continued with her work as an illustrator and created most of her pictorial oeuvre. Remedios Varo died on October 8th, 1963.
