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Dark Metropolis: Irving Norman's Social Surrealism
Unmasking the realities of human nature and the contemporary society in which we live, Irving Norman aimed only ''to tell the truth of our time.'' Norman's massive canvases abound with teeming figures, drone-like and mechanical in their repetition, yet stubbornly and hauntingly human. The combination of jewel-tone colors, transcendent messages, and technical virtuosity make his work unique in the history of American art. Dark Metropolis , a book of compelling vision, is produced in conjunction with the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento to accompany an ambitious retrospective of the art of this important painter.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2006
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About the author
Michael Duncan
29 booksMichael Duncan, a critic and independent curator, is a Corresponding Editor for Art in America. His writings have focused on maverick artists of the twentieth century, West Coast modernism, twentieth century figuration, and contemporary California art. His curatorial projects include surveys and recontextualizations of works by Pavel Tchelitchew, Sister Corita Kent, Kim MacConnel, Lorser Feitelson, Eugene Berman, Richard Pettibone, Alberto Burri, and Wallace Berman. He was the curator of the 2009 Texas Biennial and is curator of the forthcoming exhibitions LA RAW: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles 1945-1980: From Rico Lebrun to Paul McCarthy and An Opening of the Field: Jess, Robert Duncan, & Their Circle.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 20, 2017
"Dark Metropolis: Irving Norman's Social Surrealism" by the Crocker Art Museum and the Irving Norman Trust, 2006.
In the artist's own words, "I don't have anyone in mind, except I say, 'To whom it may concern.' If somebody recognizes in this work something that is similar to their understanding, to their feeling, to their own experience, fine! And if not, it's their bad luck. But it's self-expression. In that style, in that manner, in that concern. I'd like to emphasize that very strongly. I'm sick and tired of what's being done in the arts, in the visual arts. Humans and their problems don't exist."
I stumbled upon Irving Norman by pure chance, turning a corner within a large room at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and there, almost tucked into a shadow, was Norman's "My World and Yours (And the Gods Created the World in Their Own Image)" from 1954. Transfixed, this one work is a labyrinthine puzzle of symbols, motion, movement, color and spiritual darkness. While I didn't fully realize it at the time, subconsciously the echoes and reverberations of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, of Gustav Dore and H. R. Giger, of Fritz Lang's powerful film "Metropolis" from 1926, were all screaming at me from within it. I had to know more about the artist and his work as a "social surrealist."
There seems to be only one book ever published about this estranged and ignored artist, and it is "Dark Metropolis," the catalogue for the exhibition that Crocker hosted in 2006. Heyday Press out of Berkeley still prints it, thankfully, and it is a truly engrossing book. I waste my morning typing this with the singular hope that someone, any one, else reads this, finds curiosity in the subject, and seeks Norman out on their own, but as Norman himself states above, it's your choice, and it's your loss to pass up this opportunity to stare into the black scrying mirror's reflection. He deserves so much respect and veneration as an artist. I'm going to quote the opening paragraphs of the forward to "Dark Metropolis" written by Michael Duncan, because I cannot say it any better:
"Why has it taken so long? The visionary paintings of Bay Area artist Irving Norman (1906-1989) have made in indelible impact on those fortunate enough to have seen one of his all-too-rare exhibitions. During his lifetime, Norman's fiery conviction and uncompromising vision clearly frightened away most museums and curators. With a political consciousness shaped by [horrific] experiences as a soldier in the Spanish Civil War, he presented a startlingly bleak, boldly schematic vision of modernity. Aware of the gruesome effects of war and the corrupt forces that generate it, he lead a one-man revolt against American conformity, big business, and consumerism, detailing the dehumanizing processes at work in the commercial boom of the postwar economy [as much as today].
"It is only now--with the breakdown of long-sanctified art movements and their taboos--that we can look clearly at Norman's grand achievement. Following his own vision and developing a unique graphic style, Norman created epic large-scale works that describe the hellish conditions of much of contemporary America. Given the twenty-first century's oil wars, corporate greed, religious fanaticism, and worldwide political corruption, Norman's works look more relevant than ever. The moral rectitude, inventive detail, and graphic complexity of his work stand out in a contemporary culture punch-drunk with banal art and vulgar mass media. With their inventive details and mastery of vertiginous space, Norman's renderings of the oppressive city-states of the future put to shame today's kitsch animation, puerile anime, and degrading video games.
"Like George Orwell's '1984' and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World,' Norman's paintings offer a tough-minded, cautionary satire of the modern corporate state, exaggerating its regimentation and dehumanizing tendencies. The preordained, market-driven realm of contemporary celebrity is similarly foretold by Norman in paintings that present movies and theater as mind-numbing fodder for the masses. Elucidating the fascistic structures of modern culture with unrestrained passion and monumental energy, Norman lets us see the big grim picture. This is the great political art of own time."
I couldn't agree more, even with a lowly BA in Art History acquired nearly 20 years ago from an engineering university. Seek this work out, dissect it through the lenses of geopolitics, social psychology, cultural anthropology, and history, then project into the near future as the human world continues to spiral dangerously forward, myopic, selfish, and stupid. Norman's work is about the forces that dominate all of us, not your own personal fishbowl microcosm. To be ignorant of these forces is inexcusable in this day and age. Completely inexcusable. Exploitation, plutocracy, objectification, slavery, super-slums, classism, hypocrisy, war. This shit roils me.
"I can't pretend in my art. If I could, I would be an actor, not a painter. We are faced with so much that is unknown, so many unanswered questions. So we hope for the best and create illusions. Religion is but one example. It's human nature to look for answers, to investigate, but in developing answers, we create illusions. I try to go beyond illusions, to tell the truth. I go deep, I go high, I go wide. That doesn't always make me popular. Museums don't want to acknowledge artists who work with the truth and the human experience. They don't like the questions. Where are we from? Who are we? Where are we going?"
Perfectly put. Thank you Crocker Art Museum, for keeping Norman's torch burning bright in this age of ignorance and greed, destruction and extinction.
Artist's website: http://www.irvingnorman.com/tablet/in...
In the artist's own words, "I don't have anyone in mind, except I say, 'To whom it may concern.' If somebody recognizes in this work something that is similar to their understanding, to their feeling, to their own experience, fine! And if not, it's their bad luck. But it's self-expression. In that style, in that manner, in that concern. I'd like to emphasize that very strongly. I'm sick and tired of what's being done in the arts, in the visual arts. Humans and their problems don't exist."
I stumbled upon Irving Norman by pure chance, turning a corner within a large room at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and there, almost tucked into a shadow, was Norman's "My World and Yours (And the Gods Created the World in Their Own Image)" from 1954. Transfixed, this one work is a labyrinthine puzzle of symbols, motion, movement, color and spiritual darkness. While I didn't fully realize it at the time, subconsciously the echoes and reverberations of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, of Gustav Dore and H. R. Giger, of Fritz Lang's powerful film "Metropolis" from 1926, were all screaming at me from within it. I had to know more about the artist and his work as a "social surrealist."
There seems to be only one book ever published about this estranged and ignored artist, and it is "Dark Metropolis," the catalogue for the exhibition that Crocker hosted in 2006. Heyday Press out of Berkeley still prints it, thankfully, and it is a truly engrossing book. I waste my morning typing this with the singular hope that someone, any one, else reads this, finds curiosity in the subject, and seeks Norman out on their own, but as Norman himself states above, it's your choice, and it's your loss to pass up this opportunity to stare into the black scrying mirror's reflection. He deserves so much respect and veneration as an artist. I'm going to quote the opening paragraphs of the forward to "Dark Metropolis" written by Michael Duncan, because I cannot say it any better:
"Why has it taken so long? The visionary paintings of Bay Area artist Irving Norman (1906-1989) have made in indelible impact on those fortunate enough to have seen one of his all-too-rare exhibitions. During his lifetime, Norman's fiery conviction and uncompromising vision clearly frightened away most museums and curators. With a political consciousness shaped by [horrific] experiences as a soldier in the Spanish Civil War, he presented a startlingly bleak, boldly schematic vision of modernity. Aware of the gruesome effects of war and the corrupt forces that generate it, he lead a one-man revolt against American conformity, big business, and consumerism, detailing the dehumanizing processes at work in the commercial boom of the postwar economy [as much as today].
"It is only now--with the breakdown of long-sanctified art movements and their taboos--that we can look clearly at Norman's grand achievement. Following his own vision and developing a unique graphic style, Norman created epic large-scale works that describe the hellish conditions of much of contemporary America. Given the twenty-first century's oil wars, corporate greed, religious fanaticism, and worldwide political corruption, Norman's works look more relevant than ever. The moral rectitude, inventive detail, and graphic complexity of his work stand out in a contemporary culture punch-drunk with banal art and vulgar mass media. With their inventive details and mastery of vertiginous space, Norman's renderings of the oppressive city-states of the future put to shame today's kitsch animation, puerile anime, and degrading video games.
"Like George Orwell's '1984' and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World,' Norman's paintings offer a tough-minded, cautionary satire of the modern corporate state, exaggerating its regimentation and dehumanizing tendencies. The preordained, market-driven realm of contemporary celebrity is similarly foretold by Norman in paintings that present movies and theater as mind-numbing fodder for the masses. Elucidating the fascistic structures of modern culture with unrestrained passion and monumental energy, Norman lets us see the big grim picture. This is the great political art of own time."
I couldn't agree more, even with a lowly BA in Art History acquired nearly 20 years ago from an engineering university. Seek this work out, dissect it through the lenses of geopolitics, social psychology, cultural anthropology, and history, then project into the near future as the human world continues to spiral dangerously forward, myopic, selfish, and stupid. Norman's work is about the forces that dominate all of us, not your own personal fishbowl microcosm. To be ignorant of these forces is inexcusable in this day and age. Completely inexcusable. Exploitation, plutocracy, objectification, slavery, super-slums, classism, hypocrisy, war. This shit roils me.
"I can't pretend in my art. If I could, I would be an actor, not a painter. We are faced with so much that is unknown, so many unanswered questions. So we hope for the best and create illusions. Religion is but one example. It's human nature to look for answers, to investigate, but in developing answers, we create illusions. I try to go beyond illusions, to tell the truth. I go deep, I go high, I go wide. That doesn't always make me popular. Museums don't want to acknowledge artists who work with the truth and the human experience. They don't like the questions. Where are we from? Who are we? Where are we going?"
Perfectly put. Thank you Crocker Art Museum, for keeping Norman's torch burning bright in this age of ignorance and greed, destruction and extinction.
Artist's website: http://www.irvingnorman.com/tablet/in...
April 5, 2011
One never "finishes" "reading" an art book such as this. This oft-overlooked 20th century artist brought to staggering life nightmarish prophesies of the human condition, of the ravages of capitalism and the military industrial complex. The savagery of empire. Irving Norman now stands among my favorite artists and is my hero.
July 11, 2019
The essays are wonderfully written, and the art reproductions beautiful. This is THE premier source on Irving Norman. As the authors of this retrospective explain, his work has been largely ignored, so there are not many scholarly sources. A must have if you are researching or are interested in this unique artist.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews