Surrealism originated in the late 1910s and 1920s in Paris as an artistic movement that sought to release creativity from the unconscious mind. Key historical surrealist artists included Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, and Man Ray. Common themes in historical surrealist works were disjointedness, the unfamiliar, dreams and nightmares, and portrayals of the subconscious mind. Techniques included cutouts, unusual proportions, and incorporating everyday objects. Contemporary surrealism is used in advertising to create new perceptions of products and services, as seen in WWF advertisements, through techniques like photo manipulation and three-dimensional images.

1. Surrealism

2. Historical – Time Period and originating Counties
Time period and country originated from -
Surrealism is a cultural movement which developed in the late 1910's and early 20's, it
sought to release creativity from the unconsciousness mind. The movement was made
up of a number of artists including poets and writers who expressed their theories
work.
The movement developed out of the Dada activities from World War 1 with the most
important centre of the movement being Paris before spreading its movement across
the globe eventually affecting the visual arts, literature, film and music of many
countries and languages.
predominantly found in advertising. Surrealism is used in contemporary advertising to
create new perceptions on the service/product which is being advertised as seen in
the WWF advert (above).

3. Historical - Key Art and Design Techniques
The key art and design techniques used in
historical surrealism is the use of cut outs and
paints. The design were created using less
technology, this meant that the access to
inspiration was limited. The designs are very
random and proportions are out of scale. This
adds an appealing dynamic to the art which can
create a layered hierarchy.

4. Historical - Common themes, concepts and ideas
in work
- Disjointedness and disorientation
- Inexplicable and unfamiliar
- More dream and nightmare based than real life
- They aimed to portray the subconscious mind
A lot of surrealism artwork featured everyday objects that have been distorted or
enlarged to give them a new perspective.
The scenes created within the work often reflected dreams and aims to connect the
viewer with their subconscious mind.

5. Historical Artist
Salvador Dali
Rene Magritte
Max Ernst
Man Ray

6. Contemporary - common themes, concepts and
ideas in work
• Contemporary surrealism can be seen throughout an array of media, but
predominantly found in advertising. Surrealism is used in contemporary
advertising to create new perceptions on the service/product which is
being advertised as seen in the WWF advert (above).
• Common themes of surrealist art include the use of miscellaneous objects
which are used to replace a part of the image as well as strong relation to
dreams and nightmares. Modern day surrealist images use the idea of an
optical illusion alongside the idea of fantasy and mystery.
• Photo manipulation is a favorite technique used throughout modern day
surrealism as well three-dimensional images instead of illustrations.
• With surrealist web design, flash is a common theme to use because it can
incorporate dream effects, animation and music.

7. Contemporary – Key Companies that have used this
within their Advertising
WWF have used surrealism to create an
impacting message through imagery in their
advertising. WWF are one of the many
organizations using surrealism to give a clear
representation of the situation that occur
around the world which may not be directly
effected by human activity. The technique uses
digitally enhanced imagery to represent world
wide issues.