Surrealism is most associated with Salvador Dalí, who painted melting clocks and suspended a lobster on a telephone, calling it art. In 1936, a pioneering artist and poet from Solihull, Emmy Bridgwater, met Dalí at the opening of the International Surrealist Exhibition and, inspired by this imaginative new art movement, brought it back to the West Midlands…
Now, this spring, there will be a chance to see and celebrate the work of Bridgwater (1906 – 1999) alongside new Surrealist works created by local contemporary artists. ‘Surreal Solihull’ will take place from March 6 until May 31 in an outdoor gallery on Solihull High Street. The free exhibition will feature work from 30 local contemporary artists who have been commissioned to create new Surrealist works in Emmy Bridgwater’s spirit.
Throughout the 1930s and 40s, Bridgwater founded and worked with a group who became known as the Birmingham Surrealists. Juxtaposing unusual objects, her visionary paintings and ink drawings invite viewers into interior worlds, defined by a symbolic language of birds, eggs and organic forms. These same images emerge in her poetry, which she successfully published in significant modernist publications.
Surrealism’s founder André Breton was so impressed by Bridgwater that he invited her to sign a manifesto and exhibit at the 1947 International Surrealist show in Paris. She went on to have solo and group shows in London, Milan and Birmingham.
However, caring duties took precedence over Bridgwater’s career – she had to look after both her elderly mother and disabled sister throughout the 1950s and 60s. Bridgwater did then return to the scene in the 1970s, when she primarily produced bold collages featuring birds, women and symbols of femininity.
Among the latest and most inventive works are those she cut and pasted from two care homes in Solihull – the Priory Nursing Home and St Georges Rest Home – as she continued to work right until the end of her life in 1999.
Bridgwater’s own bold visions shaped British Surrealism, through which artists found beauty and magic in the unconventional and everyday; that same spirit continues to run through Surreal Solihull and I hope visitors enjoy seeing the familiar in unexpected ways.
Among the artists honouring the legacy of Bridgwater in ‘Surreal Solihull’ will be Helen Grundy, whose ‘Bird Land’ collage features Bridgwater as a birdlike creature towering over a surreal imagined landscape that represents a dreamlike version of the town. As the artist explains: “She is surrounded by a number of ‘hatchlings’ which represent how emerging artists are rediscovering her work and being influenced by her.”
Another of the artists is Paul Newman who, reflecting on his memories of growing up in Solihull, is painting a giant beetle crawling up Touchwood: “Mell Square was the place to go to spend pocket money on a Saturday. I love Surrealism and Bridgwater’s paintings, with their melancholy atmosphere of uncertain interiority. I paint urban scenes with reference to the art historical landscape painting, within which I include elements of the fantastical and monsters from the movies. I look forward to channelling these memories and passions into the commission for Surreal Solihull.”
Meanwhile, for Milly Jackson, this commission will see her exhibit for the first time since maternity leave: “After a career break, I can’t wait to return to my practice with a project paying homage to my hometown and my love of all things surreal. It’s very exciting that we will soon be seeing local artists’ work in the streets – in a new wave of surrealist work! Thank you to Culture Solihull for the opportunity, and Emmy Bridgwater for the inspiration.”
The free exhibition will run from March 6 until May 31 on Solihull High Street. It has been developed thanks to funding from WMCA and in partnership with Solihull Council, Visit Solihull, Solihull BID, the Emmy Bridgwater Estate and The Mayor Gallery, London.
