Hayward Gallery – Undercover Surrealism

The Undercover Surrealism exhibition at the Hayward gallery was the first major survey of DOCUMENTS, the radical surrealist magazine published in France in 1929 and 1930, and edited by the avant-garde philosopher and novelist Georges Bataille. DOCUMENTS combined an eclectic mixture of art, archaeology, ethnography and popular culture, drawing in many of the greatest writers, poets and artists of the time, including Carl Einstein, Robert Desnos, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and André Masson.

The aim of the design was to recreate Bataille’s two-dimensional and monochromatic vision in a glorious technicolour pop up show, bringing together much of Document’s original material in order to create a three-dimensional vision of surrealism. The layout and the exhibition’s structure with walls punctuated with openings, created unexpected views and vistas that encouraged the viewer to really look. This was a full-frontal assault on the senses, intended to bring DOCUMENTS to life. We designed the layout, the interior architecture, the showcases and the display.

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