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$0 — Free RSVP
$10 — General
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$30 — Pay It Forward
Join scholars Alexander Nemerov and Megan Kincaid for a conversation exploring two of Surrealism’s most influential and underrecognized artists, Wolfgang Paalen and Alice Rahon, who both have historical ties to SFMOMA.
Paalen and Rahon, husband and wife from 1934 to 1947, forged artistic paths that were at once deeply rooted in Surrealist thought and defiantly their own. Rahon, a celebrated poet turned painter, transformed language into luminous, textured canvases charged with poetic incantation — and received her first solo exhibition at SFMOMA in 1945. Paalen, dubbed the “philosopher of the possible,” pushed Surrealism toward new theoretical terrain, eventually founding the Dynaton movement, which fused cosmic, scientific, and transcendental ideas with modern art. This event coincides with the 75th anniversary of SFMOMA’s presentation of Dynaton, the landmark 1951 exhibition that introduced Paalen’s movement to the public.
In this conversation, art historians Nemerov and Kincaid will trace Paalen and Rahon’s intertwined journey from the Surrealist circles of Europe to their transformative encounters with the landscapes and visual cultures of British Columbia, Alaska, and Mexico, as well as their influence on the Bay Area and lasting imprint on 20th-century art. Marin Sarvé-Tarr, assistant curator of painting and sculpture at SFMOMA, will introduce the program.
This program is co-presented by Gallery Wendi Norris.
Megan Kincaid serves on the Faculty of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Cooper Union and is curator of the Kenneth C. Griffin Collection. At present, she is at work on a book on ex-Surrealists in Mexico City during World War II, centering on Alice Rahon, as well as exhibitions of Kazuya Sakai and Bridget Tichenor. Previously, she taught modern art and dance history at New York University. Dr. Kincaid received her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU (2024), and BA in Art History from Columbia University (2017).
Alexander Nemerov is the author of many books on American art and culture, including Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s America and The Forest: A Fable of America in the 1830s. He is the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities at Stanford University.
Accessibility accommodations such as American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and assisted listening devices are available upon request ten business days in advance.
Please email publicengagement@sfmoma.org, and we will do our best to fulfill your request.
Support for Public Programs and Artist Talks at SFMOMA is provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Distinguished Lecture Series.
Presenting Sponsor of Thursday Night Live is Zoox.
Meaningful support is provided by Diana Nelson and John Atwater.
Additional support is provided by the Yerba Buena Partnership.