Aube Breton “invites us to explore what lies behind the visible”

The opening of the exhibition Dawn Breton: A surreal stay at the Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo commemorates two significant events: the centenary of the first surrealist manifesto of André Breton (1896-1966) and the 70th death anniversary of Frida Kahlo.

In interview with The Day, Constance Krebs, representative of the Atelier André Breton association and director of the website www.andrebreton.frshared his perspective on the exhibition and stated that Aube Elléouët-Breton (Paris, 1935), daughter of Breton always wanted the public to understand that, for the surrealists, women artists were as valued as men.

Krebs, who traveled to Mexico this Saturday especially from France to attend the opening ceremony, highlighted how Aube’s work “transports us to a world where dream, imagination and magic are intertwined in a dance of colors and objects.

It is a game of contrasts, a dreamlike universe that invites you to explore what lies behind the visible.Krebs explained, referring to the collages from Aube Elléouët, where embossed papers, stickers, shells and glass balls are combined with particular lightness and humor.

The curatorship, led by Marisol Argüelles, organizes the exhibition into three sections that offer a deep vision of Aube’s life and work, in a context that highlights his link with Mexico and with key figures of surrealism, such as Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Alice Rahon, and Bridget Tichenor.

According to Constance Krebs, “Aube Elléouët’s work invites us to look beyond the obvious, to immerse ourselves in a game of mirrors in which reality and fantasy intertwine. The exhibition becomes an invitation to enter a world where the limits between what is real and what is imagined are blurred, in an infinite game of analogies, like those that Aube posed in his own works.

“If I were Fantomas in the crystal ball, if I were Scotland marrying Mexico, if I were a sugar skull vomited by a volcano…” Each of these phrases becomes a door to the unknown, an invitation to explore a universe full of possibilities.

“The abundance of objects and colors in Aube Elléouët-Breton’s work transports us to another world, beyond reality. Is it a dream? Imagination? Magic?

Aube’s art takes us to another world. Is it a dream? Maybe, but one we never want to stop exploring.

The first section highlights the importance of women within the surrealist movement. Works by Carrington, Tichenor and Rahon, essential in the dissemination of surrealism in Mexico, are presented alongside those of Aube, creating a bridge between French and Mexican art.

Argüelles highlighted how national surrealism absorbed elements of popular art, creating a unique fusion that is reflected in the work of the artists who were part of the close circle of Jacqueline Lamba, Aube’s mother.

The second core, which brings together photographs, documents and paintings, also addresses the deep bond between Aube and the Canadian artist Alan Glass, who, like his friend, shared a deeply surreal vision of art.

Part of the correspondence between the two, included in the exhibition, allows us to understand their friendship, but, above all, the body of joint work that reflected their particular vision of the world. For Argüelles, this artistic and epistolary exchange It is a testimony of how two creative minds were able to find a common language, despite being separated by continents, and the way in which that language generates new ways of understanding and reinterpreting art..

During his stay in Mexico, Aube – when he was only eight years old – lived in the Blue House, home of Frida Kahlo, which marked a before and after in his work. Kahlo’s influence on her is undeniable, not only because of the closeness they shared, but because of the creative and unique atmosphere that was breathed in that home.

From that time came Aube’s first artistic experiments in the collage, surrealist technique that allowed him to explore new forms of expression by combining everyday elements with a touch of chance, just as his father, André Breton, recognized as the father of surrealism, preached.

The third section exposes Aube Elléouët-Breton’s legacy as an independent creator, beyond being the daughter of the famous French writer, poet and essayist.

Marisol Argüelles added that for Aube, the collage was a way of build the artistic object through chancea process that transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary. Through this work, Aube reflected on his own life and his experiences in our country, in addition to also contributing to surrealism with a fresh and transformative proposal.

This technique, characteristic of the movement, allowed him to reinterpret the world in a unique way, revealing new meanings from the unexpected.

Aube Breton, only daughter of André Breton and Jacqueline Lamba, worked as a social worker, municipal councilor in the Mairie de Saché and for 10 years collaborated with the international association Terre des Hommes, which supports the integration of foreign children and young people in France.

She collaborated with her husband, the painter, writer, cartoonist and novelist Yves Elléouët in transcribing his manuscripts. Since the 1970s, Aube Breton has exhibited individually and collectively in several countries.

This exhibition honors the figure of Aube Breton, but also pays tribute to the legacy of surrealism in Mexico, which found fertile ground in the 1930s and 1940s. Surrealism was an avant-garde movement of a political nature that sought to transform the individual and society. , something that is present in the texts of André Breton and in the way in which his followers, such as Aube and Alan Glass, continued this legacyconcluded Marisol Argüelles.

Alejandra de la Paz, director of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature, also attended the opening ceremony.

The sample Aube Breton: A surreal stay It can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera (Altavista y Diego Rivera s/n, San Ángel Inn neighborhood, Álvaro Obregón mayor’s office).

Admission costs 45 pesos and is free on Sundays. Ends on April 25, 2025.