Scan barcode
A review by callum_mclaughlin
Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art by Leonora Carrington, Susan Aberth
4.0
As someone who loves Carrington's artwork and wanted to know more about her as a person, this book was ideal. Alongside high-quality images of many of her pieces, there's a great amount of text detailing Carrington's fascinating life. Getting this extra context whilst marvelling at her work was exactly what I wanted. I'm now all the more excited to try some of her writing, and to continue to explore her art.
I would say, the book tells us itself that Carrington was notoriously private, giving few details about her personal life and never wanting to reveal what her art was 'about', so as to preserve an element of mystique and the ability for viewers to form their own meaning (which I really admire). This means that the book does contain a fair amount of conjecture, particularly where the motivation or meaning behind specifically discussed pieces of her work are concerned. In that respect, it's not so much a dot-to-dot style biography and catalogue of work, and more an analysis and discussion, complete therefore with a small but nonetheless present personal touch (the author wrote her dissertation on Carrington, so she's clearly a fan). This isn't necessarily a bad thing (it means there are some interesting opinions and points of thought put forth that add another layer of depth), I just think it's worth knowing where non-fiction is concerned, in case a complete lack of bias is important to you.
I would say, the book tells us itself that Carrington was notoriously private, giving few details about her personal life and never wanting to reveal what her art was 'about', so as to preserve an element of mystique and the ability for viewers to form their own meaning (which I really admire). This means that the book does contain a fair amount of conjecture, particularly where the motivation or meaning behind specifically discussed pieces of her work are concerned. In that respect, it's not so much a dot-to-dot style biography and catalogue of work, and more an analysis and discussion, complete therefore with a small but nonetheless present personal touch (the author wrote her dissertation on Carrington, so she's clearly a fan). This isn't necessarily a bad thing (it means there are some interesting opinions and points of thought put forth that add another layer of depth), I just think it's worth knowing where non-fiction is concerned, in case a complete lack of bias is important to you.