Many of the artists showing in Turn the Page: The First Ten Year of Hi-Fructose are inspired by the Surrealist art

movement. Building on this, MOCA is hosting a Surrealist Challenge. Open to grade K-12 students, we encourage

you to create your own Surrealist artwork. Use this packet to learn more about Surrealism, some of the artists in the

exhibition inspired by Surrealism, and to brainstorm ideas! All works that meet the requirements below will be shown

at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art.

MOCA’s Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose exhibition is committed to creating awareness of

contemporary art. Contemporary art is the art of now. The artists are still alive, and they are still making art that is

informative, imaginative and relevant. This exhibition features 51 important contemporary artists. These artist have

been featured in the contemporary art magazine Hi-Fructose. Their works are now on view at MOCA.

All works must be 9x12 inches and matted 12x16 inches

Art work drop-off dates: November 5-8, 2016, 10am-5pm

Exhibition dates: November 20-December 31, 2016

Opening reception: Sunday, November 20, 2016, 2-4pm

Art work pick-up: January 3-13, 2017, 10am-5pm

For more information go to www.virginiamoca.org/surrealist-challenge or contact Rebecca Davidson at

Rebecca@VirginiaMOCA.org.

Please attach this label to back of artwork

Student Name: _________________________________________________________________

Grade Level: _________________

Title of work: ___________________________________________________________________

Medium: _____________________

School: _______________________________________________________________________

Teacher Name: _________________________________________________________________

Contact Phone Number or email: ___________________________________________________

Surrealism was a style of art and literature that originated in the late 1920s. It was inspired by dreams and

experiences, rather than reality. Some Surrealist artists combined things that don't usually go together, like the

telephone and lobster below. Others did automatic drawing, where you doodle on paper without thinking about it. A

few well known Surrealist artists include Joan Miro, Man Ray, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí.

Surrealism continues to have a lasting effect on art. Some of the artists in Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-

Fructose are part of a contemporary art movement called Pop Surrealism. Pop Surrealism is a broad term to

describe pop-culture infused art. Many Pop Surrealist artists combine pop culture with techniques inspired by past

art movements. When you see Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose at MOCA you will see how

Surrealism influences Contemporary art.

Salvador Dalí Lobster Telephone, 1936 © Tate, London 2016

Joan Miró Head of a Catalan Peasant, 1925 © Tate, London 2016

Man Ray Indestructible Object, 1923 © Tate, London 2016

Fulvio di Piazza creates paintings that are often referred to

as surreal, dark, and dystopian. Di Piazza's pieces

deal with patterns of economic and environmental

decline. He is interested in the damage that new

technologies are doing to the environment. For example,

the destructive mining process for materials needed to

build smartphones. When describing this concern Di

Piazza said, “…Man, with his idea of progress, does not

consider that his actions have a devastating burden on the

balance of nature.”

One of Fulvio di Piazza's big influences was author and

theorist Jeremy Rifkin. Rifkin wrote about the impact of

technology on the economy. The Surrealist art movement

began as a literary movement, meaning it began with

writing, not art. For this activity you will be inspired by

books or stories that you love.

STEPS:

Brainstorm and sketch characters from your favorite

books and stories.

Next, brainstorm and sketch settings from your

favorite books or stories.

After you have brainstormed character setting ideas

combine the settings with the characters. Make your

combinations unique and unusual. For example,

place a mermaid in a tree or on a mountain.

While you are working on your sketches, think about the composition of your characters within the new

environment. While the goal is to have a juxtaposition between character and place, it should not look like the

character is just floating in the scene rather than a part of it.

Fulvio Di Piazza

Ratspiderbat, 2013

Oil on canvas

Courtesy of Galleria Giovanni Bonelli, Milan

Greg "Craola" Simkins paints the surreal scenes that pop

into his head. For example, the painting Killing Time was

inspired by a song. While listening to this song Craola

started to daydream. The painting he created shows what

he was imagining while listening to this song. Craola

keeps a small sketch book in his pocket, and as ideas

come to him he creates quick sketches. Later, he takes

the strange characters he has sketched and puts them

together. This is how he brainstorms ideas for his

paintings.

Killing Time shows a clock, which seems to be falling

through the air as it fights a mechanical bird. Ghostly

looking creatures watch the fight from the

background. Craola was thinking about time while

working on this piece, wishing he had the power to stop

time, so he can slow down and relax. In this activity, you

will be combining collage and illustration.

STEPS:

Look through a magazine. Find two images that you find interesting and cut them out.

Play with arranging the images in an interesting composition. Once you have figured out how they want the two

images to relate, glue them to the back of the Surrealist Activity 2 page in the student handout.

Think of a story to connect these two images. What is going on between them? What are they doing? What is

around them? You can write your story down if you want, or just go to the next step.

Draw the story of what is happening between your two images. Make sure to include enough details to help

show others your story.

Greg Craola Simkins Killing Time, 2014

Acrylic on panel Collection of Nick Cassavetes

Artist Camille Rose Garcia creates narrative paintings.

Her paintings blend popular culture references, like

Disneyland, with a sarcastic poke at modern society. She

is part of the Lowbrow art or Pop Surrealism art

movement, which came along in the 1970's. Pop

Surrealism has its roots in underground comics, punk

music, and street art, as well as the Surrealist art

movement. Pop Surrealist works often has a sense of

humor or sarcasm.

Music plays a big role in Camille Rose Garcia's life. She

makes a point of seeing live music whenever she

can. Ghost of G Sharp Seven was inspired by one of her

favorite singers, Shakey Graves. She drove four hours to

see him play one night. It was a magical show for

Garcia.

The day after seeing Shakey Graves she started on this

painting. For Garcia, this painting is about trying to make

moments last. Think about your favorite song. How does

listening to that song make you feel?

STEPS:

Play or think of your favorite song. While you are

listening, think about how you feel. What does it make you think of? Do any images pop in your head?

On the back of this paper, sketch everything that comes to mind when you listen or think about that song.

Include anything and everything you thought while listening.

Once you have finished your drawings add color to your paper. Think about the colors you can use and how they

relate to your song.

Camille Rose Garcia The Ghost of G Sharp Seven, 2013

Acrylic and glitter on wood panel Courtesy of the Artist and Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles

Photograph by Karl Puchlik

As a child Todd Schorr had a love for drawing, fantasy

movies such as King Kong, and the cartoons by Walt

Disney. After he graduated college, Schorr became a

commercial artist. He worked on a variety of projects

including album covers, movie posters, and magazine

covers. Eventually, he became frustrated with the

restrictions involved with creating work for other

people. Schorr decided to quit the commercial art

world and create his own art.

Todd Schorr became one of the founders of the Pop

Surrealist movement. He combines his love of cartoons

with the painting techniques of the old masters. Schorr

creates humorous narratives that comment on humanity.

He questions how people that are so technologically

advanced can have such primitive behavior

when interacting with each other. You can email, video

chat, call all over the world, but people can still be rude or

cold when talking to others face to face. Using Todd

Schorr’s narrative style as inspiration, you are going to fill out a mad lib and illustrate what you wrote!

STEPS:

Write down a word for each part of speech below. When you are done, flip this page over and add your words to

the story. Once you have done that, create an illustration for your story!

Noun=person, place, animal, thing. Examples are car, bed, fish. Verb= action words. Examples are run, talk, smell.

Adjective= descriptive words. Examples are beautiful, short, yellow.

Todd Schorr The Last Polar Expedition of Commander Peary, 2011

Acrylic on canvas Courtesy of Alexander Bodecker

1. Noun: _________________________________

2. Verb ending with –ing: ___________________

3. Noun: _________________________________

4. Verb ending with –ing: _____________________

5. Adjective: ________________________________

6. Adjective : ________________________________

Something had gone wrong. The latest update to the (1)______________________ had just been

released, but it was (2)__________________________ with (3)______________________. Everywhere I

looked, people were (4)___________________________ – but the (5)_____________________ part is,

they were talking to each other, face to face. I have to get away from these (6)_______________________

people before it messes me up, too.

Jennybird Alcantara creates detailed oil paintings that

have dream-like narratives. Her paintings often combine

females, nature and animals. She explores symbolism in

her work. For example, in Creature of Saintly Disguise, the

tiger represents a protector, while the bear is a scout,

keeping an eye out for danger. The white, wispy flowers

are the spirits of nature. The figure in the painting has

multiple legs, meant to show her indecisiveness about

which path to take.

Like Jennybird, you are going to create a hybrid person/

plant/ animal. We are going to look to the Surrealists for

inspiration. There was a drawing activity they did called

Exquisite Corpse. They would work together on a drawing,

each doing one part. They would fold the paper over, so

they couldn't see what the other artists drew. Once the

paper was filled they would opened it up and see what they

created. For your next activity, you will be creating an

Exquisite Corpse with your classmates.

Steps:

Fold this paper in to three sections.

Starting at the top of the paper, you will draw a human

head. When you are done, fold your paper over so

you can’t see the head. Then hand your paper to the person sitting on your left. The student will draw a torso

that looks like a plant. They will fold the paper over again, and pass it to the third student. The third student will

fill in the bottom section of the paper with legs that look like an animal.

When all three sections are finished, the paper goes back to the student who started the head. It is up to that

student to add color and a background.

Jennybird Alcantara Creatures of Saintly Disguise, 2012

Oil on wood Courtesy of AFA Gallery

© Jennybird Alcantara, All Rights Reserved

Once you have finished this packet it is time to start your own Surrealist inspired work of art. You can use ideas from

the drawing activities in your own artwork. Bring your Surrealist artwork to MOCA between November 5th-8th. If it

meets the requirements below it will hang in our Fleming Gallery. We are looking forward to seeing your art!

All works must be 9x12 inches and matted 12x16 inches

Art work drop-off dates: November 5-8, 2016, 10am-5pm

Exhibition dates: November 13-December 31, 2016

Opening reception: Sunday, November 13, 2016, 2-4pm

Art work pick-up: January 3-13, 2017, 10am-5pm

For more information go to www.virginiamoca.org/surrealist-challenge or contact Rebecca Davidson at

Rebecca@VirginiaMOCA.org.