Munich, Germany - Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) is one of the most important and, at the same time, least known of the German Surrealists.  To this day, his oeuvre remains surrounded by mystery and taboos.  The retrospective in the Pinakothek der Moderne is the first exhibition for over a quarter of a century in Germany to be dedicated to Bellmer’s work and was originally organized by the Centre Pompidou, Paris.  It assembles numerous and hitherto unknown drawings from museums and private collections, photographs, paintings, unpublished note pads and sketch books as well as some sculptural objects, among them »La poupée« (»The doll«).

In 1933/34 Hans Bellmer created »La poupée«, the surrealistic object par excellence.  It is a life-sized, plaster-covered skeleton made of wood and metal, onto which he projected his suppressed desires as if it were an object of fetishism.  Initially, he had created it as a gesture of rebellion against ideologies and all forms of authority.  However, the anatomically variable doll soon became for Bellmer an instrument of fresh reflection on the body.  This preoccupation turned the object of fetishism into a paradigmatic point of reference for contemporary artistic expression of the erotic.

»La poupée«, at the same time fascinating and disturbing, is a reflection of his own obsessive explorations into the anatomy of the unknown, a theme running through his entire work.  His second, more elaborate doll which he created in 1935/36, consisted of a female torso with swivel joints.  The »invention of new forms of desire« with the aid of the doll finds expression in the medium of photography for which he creates theatrical and sadistic scenarios, and even more particularly in his drawings reminiscent of the refinement of the Old Masters and at times of mannerist finesse.  It is on these features of his work that Bellmer’s fame is founded.

In 1938 Bellmer fled Germany for Paris, where he became friends with Surrealists such as Paul Eluard, Yves Tanguy, Hans Arp and Max Ernst.  In a constant flow of new experiments the artist extended the limits of representing the body – just as Hieronymus Bosch and Giuseppe Arcimboldo once did – and concentrated them into an epic myth about the »anatomy of the image«.  The numerous drawings made by Bellmer in the course of his artistic career reveal a spectrum ranging from naturalistic portraits to depictions of jumbled arrays of joints that dissolve into almost biomorphic abstractions.  Many of his drawings merge male and female shapes to form ambivalent, flowing organisms that point to the androgynous as a constant feature of his obsession.

In a presentation designed to resemble a labyrinth, the exhibition circles around the »anatomy of desire« as the central concept of Bellmer’s creative work.  It highlights the singularity of his work, one that in the context of the 1920’s and 1930’s was highly subversive in its discourse on the body, on childhood, psychoanalysis, the erotic and violence.  The exhibition and accompanying publication demonstrate that today more than ever Bellmer’s oeuvre is of particular interest.  The calling into question of human identity, opposition to conservative ideologies and mainstream stereotypes are issues of current relevance in contemporary art.  They are to be found in the works of influential artists of the present day, among them Matthew Barney, Cindy Sherman and Paul McCarthy.

Bellmer’s role as an outsider was supported by the persistent power of his rebellion.  No matter what his political convictions or unbounded intentions may have been, the eerie, violent and obsessive features of Bellmer’s oeuvre are unmistakable.  »The origin of my pictures is scandalous, because for me the world is a scandal.  « (Hans Bellmer)... On exhibit until 27 August, 2006.

Visit the Pinakothek der Moderne at: http://www.pinakothek.de/pinakothek-der-moderne/