Gloria Bornstein

Born New York, New York, 1937

The Bachelor Grinds His Chocolate
Himself, 1988
Monoprint
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Mia
McEldowney, 2004.33.3

The primary reference for Gloria

Bornstein’s
The Bachelor Grinds His Chocolate Himself
is the monumental construction The Bride
Stripped Bare
by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass)
by Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968).
Although intentionally enigmatic,
Duchamp’s work is often understood as
depicting the never-ending sexual struggle
between the bride (as represented in the
top register) and
her male suitors below. Bornstein,
responding to Duchamp’s male
perspective, created an image in which
Duchamp’s bachelor is rejected by his
bride
and must fend for himself.
Marcel Duchamp (France, 1887–1968)
The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even
(The Large Glass), 1915–23
Oil, varnish, lead foil, lead wire, and dust on two
glass panels
109 ¼ x 69 ¼ inches
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Marcel Duchamp (France, 1887–1968)

Chocolate Grinder No.1, 1913
Oil on canvas
24 ¼ x 25 ¼ inches
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Jana Brevick

Born Ogden, Utah, 1970

Running, 2000
Sterling silver
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of the Sandra
Crowder Estate, 2007.41.2

Jana Brevick frequently incorporates humor

into her jewelry. In this neckpiece, two legs
dangle freely as the wearer moves. This
kind of random movement is gently
amusing and somewhat illogical, in
opposition to the regular, purposeful
movement of a runner’s legs. Running also
plays with scale and logic by dangling two
miniature disembodied legs directly
beneath an actual human head.
Salvador Dalí
Born Figueras, Spain, 1904
Died Figueras, Spain, 1989
The Song of Songs of King Solomon,
1971
Portfolio of 12 etchings with stencil, gold
dust, and gilding, No. 10 from an edition of
50
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Ann and James
Wiborg, 2007.53.1-14

The artist Salvador Dalí painted what many

consider the most beloved surrealist
image, The Persistence of Memory (1931).
Dalí also created surrealist sculptures,
theater designs, and films. After World War
II and the detonation of the atomic bombs
at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945,
Dalí’s artwork began to focus more on
spiritual concerns. An increasingly devout
Roman Catholic, Dalí finished the prints for
The Song
of Songs of King Solomon near the end of
his artistic career. These prints are
characterized by Dalí’s masterful handling
of line and color. The elongated figures and
ethereal sense of place create a
mesmerizing vision of the garden setting
for the biblical verses of the Old Testament.
The otherworldly treatment of the
illustrations also alludes to the traditional
allegorical interpretation of the biblical
passages as human nature united with God
through the workings of the church on
earth.
Salvador Dalí (Spain, 1904–1989)
The Persistence of Memory, 1931
Oil on canvas
9 ½ x 13 inches
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Top row (left to right)

King Solomon
The Kiss
The Shepherd
The King's Train
The Dovelike Eyes of the Bride
The Bridegroom Leaps upon the
Mountains

Bottom row (left to right)

The Beloved Looks Forth Like a Roe

The Beloved is Fair as a Company of
Horses
Thou Art Fair, My Love. . .
The Beloved Feeds Among the Lilies
The Fruits of the Valley
Return, O Shulamite
Scott Fife
Born Moscow, Idaho, 1949
Dresser with Drapes and Landscape,
1991
Archival cardboard with Lascaux painting
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Les J. and
Karen Weinstein, 2007.29

Scott Fife’s early cardboard tableaux and

sculptures have a strong affinity to film
noir; notably both share an eerie, dark
mood. The imagery of Dresser with Drapes
and Landscape suggests a crime scene—
strong raking light, sweeping drapery, and
a knife buried deep into the wall. This kind
of psychologically unsettling scene was
typical of film noir during the 1940s.
Although primarily American filmmakers
embraced
film noir, its origins have been traced
directly to
French surrealism.
Tacoma Art Museum is dedicated to the art
and artists of the Pacific Northwest. One of
the most beloved works in the museum’s
collection is Leroy, The Big Pup, by Scott
Fife. Tacoma Art Museum is proud to have
the artist’s full range represented in its
collection, from the early work seen in this
gallery to the contemporary, monumental
puppy in the lobby.
Claudia Fitch

Born Palo Alto, California, 1952

Two Chandeliers with Milk Drops, 2003
Ceramic with glazes, oil paint, gold leaf,
and brass
Tacoma Art Museum, Museum purchase
with funds from John and Shari Behnke and
Greg Kucera and Larry Yocom, 2007.28

Claudia Fitch often finds inspiration directly

from
her dreams. The resulting works of art
convey the nonsensical order and
juxtaposition of things and people that she
remembers from her dreams. In
Two Chandeliers with Milk Drops, Fitch
depicts
upside-down, Buddha-like figures that seep
gilded drops of milk. This unearthly scene
evokes a serene sense of compassion and
a promise of security and prosperity as
symbolized by the milk drops.
Nöle Giulini

Born Heidelberg, Germany, 1958

Untitled (Mickey Mouse Organ), 1994
Kombucha fungus, wood, thread, and
myrrh resin
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Scott and Ruth
Wilson, 2006.36 A-C

In this haunting sculpture, Nöle Giulini

creates
a desiccated version of the famous Disney
character Mickey Mouse. Giulini establishes
a morbid psychological tension by crudely
sewing pieces of dried fungus into a toy-
like object. With her creation, she
obliterates the usual joyous associations
given to childhood toys and Disney
characters. Instead of happy memories, the
viewer faces issues related to death and
disintegration. Like the surrealists, she
emphasizes mortality and a grim vision of
the passage of time.
Joseph Goldberg

Born Seattle, Washington, 1947

Chaco, 2005
Encaustic on linen over wood
Tacoma Art Museum, Museum purchase
with funds from Rebecca and Alexander
Stewart in honor of
Dr. Dale Hall and Susan Russell Hall,
2006.31

For the surrealists, animals provided

powerful symbols that could represent
untamed natural forces or the darker,
unknown aspects of human nature. For
example, one of the preeminent surrealists
Max Ernst (1891–1976) created an alter
ego named “Loplop,” represented in bird-
like forms.

Northwest artists, beginning with Morris

Graves, also employed the symbolism of
animals in their art. Owls, in particular,
have an important place as a symbol of the
mystical power of the region’s forests. The
unnerving psychological impact of owls
was tapped by the popular television series
Twin Peaks (1990–1991) that was set in
Washington State. A key plot element
revolved around the revelation that “the
owls are not what they seem.”
Max Ernst (Germany, 1891–1976)
Loplop Introduces Loplop, 1930
Oil and various materials on wood
39 ½ x 70 ⅞ inches
Private collection
Max Ernst (Germany, 1891–1976)
Le Grande Assistant, 1967
Bronze
Private collection
Morris Graves
Born Fox Valley, Oregon, 1910
Died Loleta, California, 2001
Chalice Holding the Stimson Mill, 1936
Oil on canvas
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Robert Ohashi,
Ross Ohashi, and Arnold Ohashi, 2007.14

After a devastating studio fire in 1935,

Morris Graves focused his attention on
making paintings that were overtly
symbolic and reflected his concerns about
the state of the rapidly changing world. In
this painting, Graves depicted the Stimson
Mill isolated in the cup of a chalice. When
he painted it, the mill, located just outside
of Ballard near Seattle, was the world’s
largest producer of wooden shingles.
Graves adapted surrealist symbolism to
make a powerful commentary on the
negative impact of the rapid economic and
political changes in Seattle. He emphasized
his point by contrasting the factory to the
purity of fallow fields.
Blake Haygood

Born Athens, Georgia, 1966

Easy Pop, 1999
Color drypoint
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Ben and Aileen
Krohn, 2006.14.2

Blake Haygood often depicts fanciful

machines that seemingly have no
discernable use or basis in rational
mechanics. Like Marcel Duchamp and other
surrealist artists, Haygood relies on humor
to convey a sense
of futility and helplessness in the modern
world. Harkening back to Duchamp’s The
Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelor’s,
Even (The Large Glass), Easy Pop features
pulleys and machine components that
simply cannot function or perform a useful
task.
Jared Pappas-Kelley

Born Olympia, Washington, 1974

Some Say She Lost Her Head, 2002
Single channel video, 2 minutes, 42
seconds,
No. 3 from an edition of 15
Tacoma Art Museum, Museum purchase,
2007.11

Created from 2.5 seconds of found film

footage by
L. Frank Baum (author of The Wonderful
Wizard
of Oz), Jared Pappas-Kelley’s Some Say She
Lost Her Head offers a poignant metaphor
for the ability to
right oneself in the face of unknown
difficulties. Pappas-Kelley composed the
melancholy soundtrack to emphasize the
tenderness of the personal task.
In this short video, the actor literally finds
her own head and replaces it over and over
again. The physical impossibility of the
actor’s task adds to the dream-like quality
of the scene.
Anya Kivarkis

Born Chicago, Illinois, 1975

Untitled Brooch, 2006
Fine and sterling silver, enamel auto paint
Tacoma Art Museum, Museum purchase
with funds from the Ramona Solberg
Endowment Fund, 2007.17

With Untitled Brooch, Anya Kivarkis melds

two symbols of taste and value, a
chandelier and an elaborate wallpaper
motif. In much of Kivarkis’s jewelry, she
incorporates symbols to generate
discussion about gender and commodities
in our culture. Visually, this juxtaposition of
two radically different objects has its
conceptual roots in early surrealist
paintings and photomontages.
Max Ernst (Germany, 1891–1976)
la bicyclette graminée...(The Gramineous
Bicycle...),
circa 1921
Gouache and ink on chromolithographic chart
with
ink inscription
29 ¼ x 39 ¼ inches
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mary Ann Peters

Born Beaumont, Texas, 1949

in an instant…everything, 2006
Graphite powder, ink, pencil, watercolor,
and gouache on polypropylene paper
Tacoma Art Museum, Museum purchase
with funds from Shari and John Behnke,
2007.22

Mary Ann Peters creates her paintings

using a method that has an affinity to the
“automatic writing” process developed by
surrealist writers. These early authors and
poets attempted to tap directly into the
unconscious by allowing themselves to
write freely, unbound from logic and
grammar. Peters’s painting process is
similar. She builds each composition from a
spontaneous arrangement and
accumulation of marks and lines, which are
filtered through her aesthetic sense and
experience. In this painting, Peters explores
the possibility of understanding all of the
cosmos through a single glance.
Jim Riswold

Born Seattle, Washington, 1957

Marie Antoinette Before, Coupe ici
Marie Antoinette, Marie Antoinette
After, Marie Antoinette’s Head, 2006
Digital pigment prints, Hors commerce
edition
Printed by Phil Bard, Cirrus Digital Imaging
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of the artist,
2006.12 A-D

In this suite of prints, provocateur Jim

Riswold rebuts the idealization of Marie
Antoinette as a vision of power, luxury, and
beauty. Like his surrealist predecessors,
Riswold harnesses the power of symbols to
question authority and rational order. The
flat instructions “Coupe ici” or “Cut here”
emphasize the merciless and gruesome
executions of thousands of French citizens
by guillotine during the French Revolution
(1789–1799). Riswold’s deadpan imagery is
not without its gallows humor—the
decapitation of dolls is a childhood rite of
passage.
Bertil Vallien
Born Stockholm, Sweden, 1938
P-28-92, 1992
Sandcast glass, silver leaf, steel stand
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Mr. James G.
Shennan, Jr., 2005.40

The dream state is one of Bertil Vallien’s

primary subjects. Vallien deftly manipulates
the material qualities of glass to create
effects that recall the experience of not
being able to remember details from a
dream. Like the surrealists who avidly
collected tribal art from Africa and cultures
of the South Pacific, Vallien has a deep
interest in mythic beings from ancient
religions, and his sculptures evoke the
mysticism of these cultures.
Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen

Born Cincinnati, Ohio, 1960

Wisteria Hooded Falcon, 2005
Blown and off-hand sculptured glass
Tacoma Art Museum, Museum purchase
with funds from Anne Gould Hauberg,
2006.8

The surrealists sought to create jarring

effects by juxtaposing strange, unexpected
objects to evoke a sense of imbalance and
unease. In this sculpture of a falcon and a
falconer’s glove, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen
incorporates a spray of flowers around the
falconer’s wrist, mimicking the ornate hood
that covers the falcon’s head to calm the
bird. Because falconry is not a high-profile
sport today, Willenbrink-Johnsen’s sculpture
reads as an unsettling vision from another
era.
Amanda Wojick

Born Rochester, New York, 1974

Tilted Mound, 2005
Ink on paper, gesso, plastic, wallpaper,
nails, plastic, foam, and paint
Tacoma Art Museum, Purchased with funds
from Rebecca and Alexander Stewart,
2005.45.2

The landscape forms created by Amanda

Wojick are inspired by introspection about
ideas defining place, home, and terrain.
Wojick focused on this subject during a
transitional period in her life, when she
moved to Eugene, Oregon, from the East
Coast. Her imaginary landscapes mirror her
feelings of being in an unknown and
unexpected place. The repeated dot and
circle motifs evoke a barren moon-like
terrain that has not been explored or
mapped. With Tilted Mound, Wojick creates
a sense of psychological uneasiness that
was also carefully constructed by the early
surrealists.
Darren Waterston

Born Fresno, California, 1965

Maelstrom, 2004
Oil on wood panel
Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Greg Kucera
and Larry Yocom, 2007.47.3

Painted on Denman Island in British

Columbia,
Darren Waterston sought to capture the
energy and effects of a winter storm in the
Pacific Northwest.
The richly colored and ambiguous
background alludes to the island’s forests
and beaches at night.
The brightly colored motifs suggest the
continual movement of debris caused by
the rain and winds.
By depicting this place and his experience
with an abstract visual vocabulary,
Waterston provides insight into his
imagination and feelings.
Top row (left to right)

King Solomon
The Kiss
The Shepherd
The King's Train
The Dovelike Eyes of the Bride
The Bridegroom Leaps upon the
Mountains

Bottom row (left to right)

The Beloved Looks Forth Like a Roe

The Beloved is Fair as a Company of
Horses
Thou Art Fair, My Love. . .
The Beloved Feeds Among the Lilies
The Fruits of the Valley
Return, O Shulamite