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Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists
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Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery
Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery
Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery
Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery
Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery
Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery
Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery
Installation shot of Moon Dancers: Yupik Masks and the Surrealists, Di Donna Galleries | Donald Ellis Gallery

Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists

In collaboration with Di Donna Galleries

April 26 – June 28, 2018

Di Donna Galleries, New York


Surrealist artists and writers were fascinated and inspired by Yup’ik dance masks from the central Alaskan coast, which they avidly collected during their period of exile in New York City during World War II. This spring, Di Donna Galleries and Donald Ellis Gallery will jointly present Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists, an exhibition exploring the rich historical, visual, and ideological connections between Yup’ik masks and Surrealism. A full colour publication with scholarly essays and ample archival material will accompany the exhibition. The exhibition is organized by Di Donna Galleries in collaboration with Donald Ellis Gallery, and with major loans from the Calder Foundation, the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection, Lucid Art Foundation, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation and important private collections.

Many of the Yup’ik masks in the exhibition were previously owned by Surrealists André Breton, Enrico Donati, Robert Lebel, Matta, Kay Sage, and Isabelle Waldberg. Alongside their work, the exhibition will showcase artists including Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Victor Brauner, Yves Tanguy, André Masson, Wolfgang Paalen, Kurt Seligmann and Leonora Carrington to celebrate the fertile creative intersection between 19th and early 20th century Yup’ik masks from the central Alaskan coast, and the Surrealists’ indefatigable quest for spiritual and artistic connections with pre-modern societies all over the world.

For more information visit Di Donna Galleries

Highlights of the Exhibition

Complex Dance Mask CE4297

Complex Dance Mask

Yup’ik
Hooper Bay, Alaska
late 19th/early 20th century
Inventory # CE4297
Dance Mask CE3462b

Dance Mask

Yup’ik
Kuskokwim River, Alaska
ca. 1890
Inventory # CE3462b
Complex Dance Mask E4200

Complex Dance Mask

Yup’ik
Likely Goodnews Bay, Southwest Alaska
ca. 1890-1905
Inventory # E4200

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