In Her Hands Women Sculptors of Surrealism

The exhibition In Her Hands. Women Sculptors of Surrealism celebrates the rediscovery of three extraordinary 20th century artists: Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, Maria Martins, and Isabelle Waldberg were, each in their own way, key figures in the international Surrealist art movement between 1930 and 1960. For the first time, this exhibition brings together sculptures by these three artists, presenting them in dialogue with one another and showcasing their expansive spatial presence. 

The three female artists exhibited in In Her Hands were part of the international art scene from Paris and Copenhagen to New York and São Paulo and developed the surrealist visual language innovatively, unconventionally and resolutely. The characteristic organic formal language of the Danish artist Sonja Ferlov Mancoba (1911-1984) was strongly influenced by non-European art, but also by the CoBrA group of artists. She intuitively created semi-abstract creatures, warrior figures and masks in clay and plaster, later also in bronze. The Brazilian sculptor Maria Martins (1894-1973) interwove the myths of Amazonia with the formal language of modernism in her organic, figurative objects. Isabelle Waldberg's (1911-1990) multifaceted oeuvre ranges from filigree linear wooden structures to abstract bronze sculptures and collages. The three sculptors were part of the international avant-garde in Paris before the Second World War; Martins and Waldberg were also central figures in New York during the war years. They belonged to the circle around Marcel Duchamp, Alberto Giacometti, Piet Mondrian and Peggy Guggenheim. 

For the first time, the exhibition places the artistic concerns and the often unconventional formal language of the three sculptors in relation to each other. At the same time, it focuses on the material, which was of great importance to all three in the creative process. Their intensive, sensual and intellectual exploration of the materials is reflected in the design of the lines, volumes, spaces and expressive gestures of their objects. The sculptural ensembles allow viewers to immerse themselves directly in the visual worlds of the artists, in which surprising connections to the aesthetics of contemporary forms in pop culture, design and film can be discovered.

In addition, the exhibition design draws inspiration from the staging methods used during the artists' lifetimes to display their works. For the first time, visitors to the Bucerius Kunst Forum can experience a completely new sense of space, as the windows are left unobstructed, allowing daylight to flood the room. Instead of walls, curtains are used to structure the presentation.

The numerous innovative female painters of Surrealism, a movement initially dominated by men, have only recently been recognised and exhibited for their significance. The Bucerius Kunst Forum now showcases three original female perspectives in Surrealist sculpture.