The Surreal Body: Fetish and Fashion

The representation of the body, and particularly the female body, provides a common thread through the activities of the Surrealists. In fashion photography and illustration, the body was manipulated, fetishized and irrecoverably changed. The mechanics of fashion promotion ensured that this new vision of the body gained general currency and the fashion magazine played an innovative role in promoting a new and often highly eroticised femininity. From the jewellery of Salvador Dali and the collections of Elsa Schiaparelli and Meret Oppenheim to the representations of the body in fashion photography and ballet, "The Surreal Body" explores the widespread adoption of this imagery.

Ghislaine Wood is curator of Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design. She curated the V&A's blockbuster exhibition, Art Deco 1910-1939 , and co-edited the accompanying book (V&A 2003). She was assistant curator of the V&A exhibition Art Nouveau 1890-1914 (V&A 2000). Her publications include Essential Art Deco (V&A 2003) and Art Nouveau and the Erotic (V&A 2000). She is a member of the V&A's Research Department.

The Surrealists endlessly manipulated and fetishized the bodyespecially the female body. The emerging mechanics of fashion promotion ensured that this new vision of the body was widely seen as the fashion magazine played an innovative role in promoting a new and often highly eroticized femininity. From the extraordinary jewelry of Salvador Dal to the collections of Elsa Schiaparelli and Meret Oppenheim, "The Surreal Body" is a stunningly illustrated look at mind-bending Surrealist fashion and adornment.

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