Thank you!

We’re looking forward to seeing you on Thursday, 25th October at 6:30pm!

“THE MARVELLOUS AESTHETICS OF SURREALISM”
Dr Karolina Watras
Deputy Head, Head of Humanities Department,
Head of Art & Design Department at Akademeia High School

THURSDAY, 25th October at 6:30pm
Akademeia High School

The second in the series of open lectures given by our faculty will be all about Surrealism! 

Founded in Paris in 1924, Surrealism was conceived as a worldview and a way of life, seeking to instigate a social and political change. Although the Surrealist group was initially formed as a literary enterprise, it became one of the most influential movements in 20th century art and visual culture.

The lecture will consider the ways in which Surrealism’s search for the marvellous challenged and transformed traditional aesthetics through a variety of media; from automatic drawing, through painting, photography, collage, and Surrealist objects. The convulsive beauty and the uncanny dimensions of Surrealist works transform our vision of both art and the world around us.

Dr Karolina Watras received her undergraduate degree in History of Art from Christ’s College, Cambridge. Dr Watras studied Gothic Architecture for a Masters at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London and subsequently returned to Cambridge to pursue her MPhil and doctoral research at Jesus College. Dr Watras has worked at the University of Cambridge as a supervisor and Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of History of Art, Acting Director of Studies at Jesus and Trinity Colleges, and course leader at the Institute of Continuing Education. She returned to Poland and joined Akademeia in 2014.

Dr Watras’s broader interests include Surrealism, transregional exchanges between 20th century avant-gardes, artist’s books, art under totalitarian regimes, and twentieth century aesthetic theory. Throughout her academic research and teaching dr Watras has always followed an interdisciplinary approach, which informs her work as the Head of the Humanities Department and which she strives to instill in her students.