Registration opens:
January 02nd, 2025

Cognitive Dissonance: A Surrealist's Approach to Imagery

Artist Robert W. Hutchison will discuss the history of the Surrealist Movement and the influence the Surrealists have had on the development of his work.

Cognitions can be either consonant or dissonant. To the visual artist, this means that two objects placed in the same context can either make sense or be nonsensical. The nonsensical situations create cognitive dissonance--an “uneasy or confused” feeling.

The Surrealists felt that this feeling would force the viewer of their works to try to understand the dissonance by creating a new psychological or intellectual context in which the disparate objects can reasonably coexist. This might open the minds of the viewers to new modes of thought.

Learn more about the Surrealists and how their perspective and approach have informed the process of artist Robert R. Hutchinson, whose artwork will be on display in the gallery. 

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