The title of this show is borrowed from a cryptic and sparsely documented work that dancer Hélène Vanel performed for the opening of the 1938 International Exhibition of Surrealism. While details vary, all accounts describe the work as an erotically charged hysterical fit performed on disheveled beds inside Duchamp’s coal sack room. The evocative photographs of Vanel’s performance served as the inspiration for Rehm’s new series of drawings. While The Unconsummated Act has been noted as the first surrealist dance, Vanel has been nearly erased from history and multiple sources report that she perished in a concentration camp. In fact, she lived into her eighties and in later life penned a memoir of her rich life in the avant garde of Paris and London.

The exhibition is accompanied by an artist pamphlet featuring a collage by Rehm and a text by Sara Fowler.

 

The Unconsumated Act  Winslow Garage 2014