Giuseppe Arcimboldo – A Reversible Anthropomorphic Portrait of a Man Composed of Fruit

Throughout centuries, artists have been trying to explain the world around them in terms of an alternate reality, drawn from imagination, the subconscious, poetry, nature, myth, and religion.

The upcoming thematic exhibition at David Zwirner will explore the past and present of fantastic art. Titled Endless Engima: Eight Centuries of Fantastic Art, this comprehensive thematic exhibition spanning two floors of the gallery’s space will include more than 130 works from the twelfth century to the present day.

The audience will have a unique opportunity to explore the affinities in intention and imagery between work executed across twelve centuries. The exhibition will be organized into six themes – Monsters & Demons, Dreams & Temptations, Fragmented Body, Unconscious Gesture, Super Nature, and Sense of Place.

The display will be rich and diverse, ranging from medieval gargoyles, masterworks from the 15th and 16th century by artists such as Giuseppe Arcimboldo and Titian, 17th-century paintings by Jan Brueghel the Younger and Salvator Rosa, the 18th-century works by Francisco de Goya and Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and 19-century works by William Blake and James Ensor to 20th and 21st-century works by Jean Arp, Louise Bourgeois, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Kerry James Marshall, Pablo Picasso, Sigmar Polke, and much more.

Organized in collaboration with Nicholas Hall, a specialist in the field of Old Masters and nineteenth-century art, the exhibition will take place at David Zwirner‘s West 20th Street space in New York from September 12th until October 27th, 2018. It will be accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly catalog, which will include new essays by Dawn Ades, Olivier Berggruen and J. Patrice Marandel and a symposium on Fantastic Art, organized by Nicholas Hall and Yuan Fang on October 27th at The Kitchen.

Let’s take a look at seven pieces that will be on view as part as Endless Engima.

Featured image: Contemporary follower of Hieronymus Bosch – The Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1515. Private collection. Courtesy Nicholas Hall and David Zwirner.