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Conversations with Curators | Uncanny Landscapes: Surrealism in the Pacific Northwest

Wed May 21 2025

6–7:30 pm

Seattle Art Museum

Tickets
Members: $10
Member guests: $15

Northern Image: The Muse III, 1948, Leo Kenney, oil on canvas, 29 5/8 x 19 1/2 in., Overall: 35 1/2 × 25 1/2 in., Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 49.129, photo: Rob Vinnedge. Photo: Native Light Studio.

Theresa Papanikolas | Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art

Was the “mystical” modernism produced in this region really a form of Surrealism? This is a notion rich with suggestion for many Northwest Modernists—Leo Kenney, Malcolm Roberts, Margaret Tomkins, Louis Bunce, Mark Tobey, and Morris Graves (to name a few)—who absorbed, assimilated, and ultimately transformed Surrealist imagery and ideas from the unique perspective of the Pacific Rim. Join Theresa Papanikolas as she traces how Surrealist strategies—dreams, the subconscious, psychic automatism, and metamorphosis—found their way into the Pacific Northwest imagination.

Join us for this member-exclusive lecture series!

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Conversations with Curators

This beloved members-only lecture series features monthly conversations with the creative forces behind SAM’s collections and exhibitions.

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