Let's Get Real… About Surrealism

"The idea of what surrealism looks like, that dream-like imagery, is still very much with us. That kind of imagery was very influential in advertising, even in the 1930s. Surrealism got coopted by capitalism very quickly in the 30s. The Surrealists themselves were very “Left Wing.” Some were joined with the French Communist Party, but at the same time there were others who were doing window displays, there were fashion designers who saw Surrealist imagery and saw that it was popular and started doing fashion designs and all sorts of housewares and things with Surrealism in mind. So Surrealism was probably the first art movement really that reaches mass culture…. Surrealism spread really quickly and was very popular, and I think that’s still with us today actually."
~ Elliott King