Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1462583
E ighty-six years after she crafted the world's most perfect emblem of Surrealism — a disquieting, visceral teacup, saucer, and spoon enveloped in Chinese gazelle f u r — M e r e t Oppenheim (1913- 1985) is as in-step with our time as the OBSESSION FUR-EDGED TEA PARTY + BEYOND KID-LEATHER GLOVES Margrit Baumann's Meret Oppenheim in her Studio, 1982 Above, from top: Meret Oppenheim's Fur Gloves with Wooden Fingers (Pelzhandschuhe), 1936 Ma gouvernante – My Nurse – Mein Kindermädchen, 1936/1967 Left: Sitting Figure with Folded Hands (Sitzende Figur mit verschränkten Fingern), 1933 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: KUNSTMUSEUM BERN; BERNISCHE STIFTUNG FÜR FOTO, FILM UND VIDEO © MARGRIT BAUMANN. URSULA HAUSER COLLECTION, SWITZERLAND; © ARS, NYC / PRO LITTERIS, ZURICH. MODERNA MUSEET, STOCKHOLM. © ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK / PRO LITTERIS, ZURICH. KUNSTMUSEUM BERN, MERET OPPENHEIM BEQUEST; © ARS, NYC / PRO LITTERIS, ZURICH. object she created in 1936. An encounter with the Surrealists — Max Ernst, Man Ray, Jean Arp — altered not only her life, but art history. The first transatlantic retrospective of Oppenheim's work, "Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition," co-curated by The Menil Collection's Natalie Dupêcher, begins its American tour in Houston, one of only two U.S. stops, before traveling to MoMA, New York, in October. While that singular cup-and-saucer is too fragile to travel from MoMA (which owns the sculptural object), Menil visitors will encounter equally startling Oppenheim assemblages such as a trussed-up pair of white lady's heels, plated to resemble a fowl served upon a silver dish. Fur Gloves with Wooden Fingers, 1936, conjures equally intense emotion. Oppenheim's work, says Dupêcher, is about "how putting things together makes a completely spectacularly other object. There's a kind of enchantment going on there." "Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition," at The Menil Collection, through September 18, menil.org. Catherine D. Anspon 118