Surrealism period art comes to Maui’s Schaefer Gallery, exhibit of Max Ernst opens Tuesday

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center (MACC) is opening a new exhibition that showcases work of one of the most significant artists to contribute to the movements of Dada and Surrealism in the development of modern art in the past century, Max Ernst.

The “Max Ernst: Surreal Mindscapes & Characters” exhibit in the Schaefer International Gallery opens to the public on Tuesday, April 9 and runs through June 1, 2024. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

German-born artist Max Ernst (1891-1976) was a key figure whose work had a profound influence on the trajectory of modern art from the early to late 20th century. Out of the devastating experiences of World War I, Ernst harnessed his sharp disillusionment with the European establishment and joined the forefront of the Dada art movement, engaging with other contemporaries who saw themselves as revolutionaries in their rejection of aesthetics and embrace of the illogical.

The works on exhibit come from the collection of Eric Ernst, grandson of Max Ernst, whose personal recollections of his grandfather and relationship with the various pieces in the collection offer a unique vantage point for understanding the artist’s life beyond what is documented in textbooks and the writings of modern art history.

“It is clear that to understand Max Ernst one needs to recognize his perpetual quest for whatever means or images that would stir the viewer’s mind as well as the eye,” said grandson Eric Ernst. “He strove to unlock the unconscious and allow those illogical impulses and reveries that float within to become conscious narratives that rival reality itself.”

With chapters of his life spent in the United States, Germany and France, Max Ernst continued to push innovative approaches that bridged into Surrealism, favoring the fantastical over the rational, and tapping into the innate potential of dreams to reveal the workings of the subconscious. This exhibition highlights his role in these historical art movements, including several rarely exhibited works that bring to light the characters and environments of the artist’s wide-spanning breadth of expression. The selection of works includes Ernst’s early series of 34 collotype textured rubbings titled “Histoire Naturelle”; large and small-scale bronze sculptures of abstracted characters; original sculpted concrete cinder blocks from his home in Sedona, Arizona; and a series of monumental tapestries by Yvette Cauquil-Prince, who worked closely with Ernst to translate his paintings into woven textiles.

“It is an exciting prospect to bring an artist of such international and art historical profile to our exhibition space on Maui, and to be able to showcase a selection of works, many of them substantial in scale, that have rarely been exhibited before,” said Gallery Director Jonathan Clark, who curated the exhibition. “While Max Ernst was active during a very different time in modern art history – “Some of the earliest works in the exhibit were created almost a century ago – the fantastical and experimental quality of his approach is timeless, transporting the viewer into an imagined reality.”

Schaefer International Gallery is open weekly from Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and also before select Castle Theater shows. Admission is free.

Free Public Events

Observe & Play Family Day

• Saturday, April 13 from 10 a.m. to noon
• Schaefer International Gallery

Families are invited to visit the gallery, experience the awe-inspiring scale of Max Ernst’s work, and channel their inner visionary creativity in experimental maker stations.

Activations

• Thursday, May 30 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Schaefer International Gallery and Yokouchi Pavilion & Courtyard

This marks the debut of a new program series, featuring an evening of “activations” unfolding in the gallery space with live dance, movement, and music performances that engage in dialogue with the exhibition. Food and beverage offerings available for purchase during the event.