Get Surreal

The Surreal Salon Soiree at Baton Rouge Gallery returns next weekend with a huge event you can read about here. Leading up to the annual party, the artwork for the juried show has been on view in the gallery all month and is worth a visit before the gallery is overrun with costumed revelers.

The exhibit features works by 43 artists from 18 states—several from Baton Rouge, the New Orleans area, and even Hammond, Covington and Bossier City. More than 325 pop-surrealist and lowbrow artworks were submitted for consideration by this year’s juror, California-based artist N.C. Winters. Trying to describe some of the dreamy paintings, sculptures, photographs and collage works here would be hard to do, but rest assured these head-scratching pieces fit in nicely with the “surreal” theme. You’ll see a large portrait of a half-women/half-lion, a Salvador Dalí-like scene dripping with cartoon characters, and a glass sculpture of what looks like a menacing vacuum attachment, among other things. An example of one of the works—Paradise by Jason Altaan of San Diego—is above.

For the main event Jan. 26, performances by New Orleans Bingo! Show, Of Moving Colors, Elevator Projects and Matt Cee will make for quite a party. Gallery Executive Director Jason Andreasen says Elevator Projects will have an interactive installation in front of the gallery that evening while New Orleans Bingo! Show’s main event will be held on the expansive lawn behind the gallery. On the following day, Sunday, Jan. 27, Winters will give a 4 p.m. presentation on the pop-surrealist movement at the gallery.

Get your tickets for the soiree here. And get a sneak preview of the works on display through Baton Rouge Gallery’s online exhibition catalogue.