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.