The exhibition has definitely surprised me with the amount of Dorothea's artworks exhibited. In 5 big rooms, the viewer gets to explore various faces of surrealism and clearly what life events shaped Tanning's always changing art.
Her initial phase of painting exhibited in room 1 was definitely my favourite part of the exhibition. Magnetic mix of vivid elements in predominantely dark paintings gave me a sense of childhood nightmares. Bright colors in paintings such as 'The Magic Flower Game' are enclosed in a disturbing multilayer perspective, what gives the audience an incentive for critical reevaluation of the painting and look beyond the obvious. 'The Magic Flower' is at the same time incredibly beautiful, but the introduction of dark elements such as torn shadow make it pretty scary. The combination of innocence and darkness intensifies the horror like aggitation, which accompanies the viewer in the 1st and 2nd room.
In the gothic inspired, dark imagery Dorothea expresses her obsession with the femme-enfant (or in other words a child-woman/female kid) whose sense of wonder encouraged probing deeper into the unconscious self. The nakedness symbolise the children's innocence or the idea that her self-perceptio and view of the world around her can still be shaped by external factors (adults, society, ideologies...). Tanning sends a message to the world that young girls are constrained by society's restrictions and moral codes. At the same time, bare body symbolises sexuality or rather the beginning of its formation. The Guest Room (1950–52), portrays of a naked girl, which contemplative position in a doorway suggests her sexual self-awarness. The painting is a representation of a gateway between adolescence and adulthood, and implicitly questions why society teaches teenage girls to increasingly be more and more fearful of their own bodies.
If you want to see more of the paintings and contemplate yourself on the world presented through Dorothea Tanning's eyes you can get the tickets here: https://shop.tate.org.uk/ticket/date?cgid=7086 Note: If you sing up yourself for a membership (which is FREE) you can get the tickets half price.
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