Dream Spell

Dream Spell
November 6, 2026 – July 4, 2027

Dreams have long fascinated artists. Once understood as spiritual or divine experiences, dreams—and later the subconscious—became gateways for artistic exploration and expression.

Artists of the Romantic period (1780s–1850s) sought to escape the pressures of modern society through emotion, imagination, and dramatic interpretations of nature that could at once be highly idealized and terrifying.

Symbolist painters (1880s–1910s) explored the mysteries of the mind through metaphor, believing that art should reflect an internal emotion or idea rather than the external world. The Symbolists frequently referenced dreamscapes, spiritual values, and biblical or mythological figures to explore themes of love, fear, death, and desire.

Surrealism (1924–1960s) directly engaged with the unconscious by applying free association, a technique used extensively in psychoanalysis, to art and poetry as a means of accessing uninhibited expression. Surrealist methodology continued to ripple into succeeding art movements, such as Abstract Expressionism (1940s–1960s) and Les Automatistes (1941–1960), where artists embraced a stream-of-consciousness approach and spontaneous creation to give form to the subconscious.

To this day, artists ride the creative wave of the unconscious. Dream Spell brings together works from the gallery’s permanent collection that bend the limits of reality. From dreamlike imagery to abstract expressions of spirituality and the inner self, these works invite viewers to reflect on the unseen dimensions of the human experience.

Image credit: Louise de Niverville, A Long View, 1988; acrylic collage on plywood. From the collection of the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery. Gift of the artist.