Leonora Carrington's latest retrospective at Palazzo Reale in Milan is a triumph - or so it seems. On paper, the exhibition's meticulous curation and staggering 60-work lineup make for a must-see event that finally dedicates full-scale attention to one of the most radical, complex, and visionary artists of the 20th century.
Yet beneath the polished surface, concerns linger about the exhibition's timing, as it coincides with another major show dedicated to Leonor Fini - a long-neglected figure in Surrealist circles. The juxtaposition raises questions about whether the surge of exhibitions devoted to women Surrealists amounts to more than just performative inclusivity.
The show itself unfolds through six chapters, tracing Carrington's life journey from post-Victorian imagination to alchemical wisdom in Mexico. The walls are painted with saturated hues, draped with thin curtains that evoke a sense of veiling - not enclosure. This beautiful gesture risks domesticating her wildness and transforming her visionary rigor into décor.
A closer look reveals that the exhibition text invites visitors to rediscover Carrington as a key figure of Surrealism and the international avant-garde, emphasizing her lifelong journey through metamorphosis and discovery. Yet within the rooms, it's often the scenography that commands attention - with elegantly printed quotations glowing softly under spotlights, curating a polished surface that conceals the urgency and rigor of Carrington's thought.
Carrington herself was not there to decorate modernism; she detonated it. Her practice dismantled hierarchies of human and animal, spirit and matter, male and female. Her paintings are acts of rebellion disguised as visions - fierce, excessive, irreducible. They refuse any form of containment.
The real feminist act would be to strip away the drapery - to let Carrington's luminous darkness radiate without apology or mediation. The exhibition risks sanctifying her work, presenting it as an exception rather than a foundation for a new canon.
Ultimately, recognition is not revolution. Representation is not liberation. The revolution Carrington envisioned - where transformation is freedom and freedom is knowledge - still lies ahead, shimmering beyond the next curtain. Seeing Carrington's paintings gathered together is an unforgettable experience: luminous, uncontainable, alive. But to truly honor her, we must tear down the veil and let her wildness burn through the canon itself.
The exhibition "Leonora Carrington" is on view at Palazzo Reale in Milan until January 11, 2025.
Yet beneath the polished surface, concerns linger about the exhibition's timing, as it coincides with another major show dedicated to Leonor Fini - a long-neglected figure in Surrealist circles. The juxtaposition raises questions about whether the surge of exhibitions devoted to women Surrealists amounts to more than just performative inclusivity.
The show itself unfolds through six chapters, tracing Carrington's life journey from post-Victorian imagination to alchemical wisdom in Mexico. The walls are painted with saturated hues, draped with thin curtains that evoke a sense of veiling - not enclosure. This beautiful gesture risks domesticating her wildness and transforming her visionary rigor into décor.
A closer look reveals that the exhibition text invites visitors to rediscover Carrington as a key figure of Surrealism and the international avant-garde, emphasizing her lifelong journey through metamorphosis and discovery. Yet within the rooms, it's often the scenography that commands attention - with elegantly printed quotations glowing softly under spotlights, curating a polished surface that conceals the urgency and rigor of Carrington's thought.
Carrington herself was not there to decorate modernism; she detonated it. Her practice dismantled hierarchies of human and animal, spirit and matter, male and female. Her paintings are acts of rebellion disguised as visions - fierce, excessive, irreducible. They refuse any form of containment.
The real feminist act would be to strip away the drapery - to let Carrington's luminous darkness radiate without apology or mediation. The exhibition risks sanctifying her work, presenting it as an exception rather than a foundation for a new canon.
Ultimately, recognition is not revolution. Representation is not liberation. The revolution Carrington envisioned - where transformation is freedom and freedom is knowledge - still lies ahead, shimmering beyond the next curtain. Seeing Carrington's paintings gathered together is an unforgettable experience: luminous, uncontainable, alive. But to truly honor her, we must tear down the veil and let her wildness burn through the canon itself.
The exhibition "Leonora Carrington" is on view at Palazzo Reale in Milan until January 11, 2025.
she was literally ahead of her time i mean we're talking about a woman who detonated modernism like what even is that kinda power 
and i love how they tried to showcase her life journey but honestly it feels like they're just putting a pretty bow on her radical ideas 
they should be stripping away the decorations and letting her true vision shine through 
instead of being all tame and curated it's like, we get it leonora was a trailblazer but now let's take it to the next level 
. I mean, what if they're more about being performative and inclusive rather than truly shedding light on her radical work? The show at Palazzo Reale in Milan looks stunning, don't get me wrong, but I'm worried that it's focusing too much on the aesthetics rather than the substance of her art. And can we talk about how Carrington's paintings are more than just beautiful - they're actually a call to revolution! 
We need to make sure we're not just celebrating her work as some sort of exception, but using it as a foundation for a new kind of feminist thought that's truly radical and liberating.
. Leonora Carrington's work is truly groundbreaking, but by presenting her in a way that feels curated and polished, I worry we're losing some of the raw intensity that made her radical in the first place 
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...but sometimes I feel like we're just glossing over the real depth of Carrington's work by making it all look so pretty and curated. She was a total game-changer, you know? 
...and can we please just strip away the drapery around these women's contributions already? 
We don't need all that polish and PR to recognize their genius.
. But, I gotta say, it feels kinda... safe? Like, the exhibition text is all about rediscovering her as a key figure of Surrealism, but what about pushing the boundaries even further? 
I mean, what would it take for us to really honor her legacy and vision? 
, but I gotta say, it's a bummer that the timing coincides with another show dedicated to Leonor Fini... like, what's good with all these exhibitions celebrating women Surrealists? Are we just doing this for social media likes and Instagram followers, or is there actually something more happening here? 
. And yeah, the show itself is trippy and all, but it still feels kinda sanitized. I want to see Carrington's wildness, not just her pretty paintings 
. The more they present her work as some kinda "visionary" thing, the less revolutionary she was in reality. We need to get past the polish and get to the raw, unapologetic truth about her art 
I just saw this retrospective on Leonor Carrington and I gotta say, it's like they're putting her art into a glass case 
. It's all so... polished and curated, you know? Like they're trying to make her seem all pretty and contained 
. But the thing is, she was never about containment - she was about blowing things up and tearing down the rules 
. Not just being a pretty face in an exhibition 
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. Don't get me wrong, 60 works by one of the most radical artists of the 20th century is still a big deal, but I'm worried they're missing the point. They're presenting her as this "visionary" artist who's all about transformation and discovery, but what about her rebellious edge? What about the way she disrupted traditional hierarchies in art?
. Where's the raw power? The unbridled energy? I want to see Carrington's paintings as acts of rebellion, not some tame, decor-ish vision