Tere Arcq on Remedios Varo

The Great Women Artists

Katy Hessel

Arts

4.8 • 944 Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

THIS WEEK on the GWA Podcast, for the very special 100th EPISODE, we interview art historian and leading curator of Surrealist and feminist art in Mexico and beyond, Tere Arcq on REMEDIOS VARO! Born in Spain, and raised in a strict Catholic schooling – from which she rebelled – Varo, in 1937, moved to Paris to join the Surrealists. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and unable to return to her home country, Varo, by 1941, escaped to Mexico. It was here where she found refuge, befriending the likes of Leonora Carrington and Kati Horna, and made the most extraordinary and meticulous paintings. Often exploring alchemy and magic, her paintings tend to focus on a single, isolated figure in an otherworldly realm. With striking features – allegedly based on her own looks – her protagonists, often female, appear like hybridised creatures. One of my favorites is (image 1) – The Call, from 1961, presents a woman, holding a pestle and mortar, walking through a corridor of tree-like figures who meditavely loom by the side, emphasising the sounds of silence, an aura of mystery, and the idea of practising something in secret! Whenever I see a painting by Remedios Varo, I feel transfixed by their mystical and metaphysical atmosphere. They are meticulously rendered - almost renaissance-like - works of these women who seem to be trapped in towers, on a quest to reach a higher state of consciousness or living in another surrealist world. They are at once haunting, mesmeric, glowing and magical. A professor in art history based in Mexico City, Tere Arcq has been the Chief Curator of the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico and has curated exhibitions on women surrealists around the world. In 2012 she curated In Wonderland: The Adventures of Women Surrealists LACMA in addition to exhibitions at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec and here in the UK where she was a co-curator of the 2010 exhibition Surreal Friends: Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Kati Horna at Pallant House gallery. With more curatorial projects in the pipeline, very excitingly, Tere is a co-curator of the upcoming retrospective at the Chicago Art Institute for summer 2023 on the artist we are very excitingly talking about today, the Surrealist Remedios Varo. -- 2021 New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/obituaries/remedios-varo-overlooked.html NMWA biography: https://nmwa.org/art/artists/remedios-varo/ 2000 New York Times on her scientific interest: https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/11/science/scientific-epiphanies-celebrated-on-canvas.html Artnews: https://www.artnews.com/feature/who-is-remedios-varo-and-why-is-she-important-1234574762/ Website with all her works: https://totallyhistory.com/remedios-varo-paintings/ Guardian review of Pallant House exhibitions Surreal Friends with Leonora Carrington and Kati Horna https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/18/surrealist-muses-who-roared-mexico Eyes on the table (1938) https://totallyhistory.com/remedios-varo-paintings/ Harmony (1956)https://usaartnews.com/auctions/the-mystical-scene-by-spanish-surrealist-remedios-varo-set-a-world-record The Juggler (The Magician), (1956)https://www.moma.org/collection/works/291307 Audio guide: https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/296/3792 Celestial Pablum (1958) https://brooklynrail.org/2017/10/criticspage/Hidden-Figures Triptych: Towards the Tower (1961) Embroidering the Earth’s Mantle (1961) The Escape (1962)https://www.gallerywendinorris.com/artists-collection/remedios-varo https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/obituaries/remedios-varo-overlooked.html -- ENJOY! Follow us: Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel Research assistant: Viva Ruggi Sound editing by Nada Smiljanic Artwork by @thisisaliceskinner Music by Ben Wetherfield https://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/ -- THIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY CHRISTIES: www.christies.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome back to the Great Women Artist podcast. Last week we interviewed Mary Beard
0:06.1	on Classical Women for a very special 100th episode. And today we look at the life and work
0:12.1	of the Mexican surrealist Remedios Baro with scholar and curator Terra Arc. But before we get to
0:18.3	this, I'm so excited to say that this episode is generously supported
0:22.4	by Christie's Auction House. Now, many of you are familiar with their exciting live and online
0:28.1	auctions, but did you know that there are other ways of buying at Christie's? With Christie's
0:33.4	private sales, you don't have to wait for the next auction to get the work that you love.
0:38.1	Private sales is a bespoke and discreet service where Christie's specialists are at your
0:43.2	disposal throughout your collecting journey, offering year-round opportunities to acquire extraordinary
0:49.2	art and objects. With over 193 works currently available for private sale, from Old Master
0:56.1	paintings to Impressionist and Modern Art, Chinese ceramics to European sculpture, furniture,
1:01.8	jewellery, manuscripts, photographs and many more. Works that are available for immediate
1:06.3	purchase include examples by Paula Rago, which were included in Christie's recent selling exhibition in London, Macab.
1:14.0	The Portuguese British visual artist has played a key role in redefining figurative art in the UK and internationally since the 1950s,
1:23.4	and was known particularly for her paintings and prints based on storybooks.
1:28.2	Her style is coloured by folk themes from her native Portugal,
1:32.2	reflecting her extraordinary imaginative power and unwavering stance on feminism
1:37.7	through the way she portrayed women in her work.
1:40.2	For more information on these works and how to buy through Christie's private sales, visit
1:45.0	Christies.com and I hope you enjoy this episode.
1:52.4	Hello everyone and welcome to The Great Women Artist podcast with me, Katie Hessel.
2:00.7	Some of you might know me from The Great
	...

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