By Jessica Ye (Jessica Yap)
Reality bends, logic dissolves, and the familiar begins to feel strangely unfamiliar. Across galleries and art fairs, a renewed fascination with surrealism is quietly unfolding. It is not a revival rooted in nostalgia, but rather a contemporary interpretation of dream logic — one that feels particularly resonant in a world shaped by fragmented images, shifting realities and boundless digital imagination.
When surrealism first emerged in the early 20th century, artists sought to unlock the subconscious and liberate creativity from rational constraints. Figures such as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte turned dreams into visual theatre, producing imagery that was unsettling, poetic and deeply symbolic. Nearly a century later, their influence continues to ripple through contemporary art.
Today’s artists approach surrealism less as a manifesto and more as a language — one that allows reality to stretch, distort and transform in unexpected ways. Their works occupy a space between imagination and observation, where the everyday becomes theatrical and the ordinary quietly slips into the uncanny.
Here are five contemporary artists whose works illuminate the many faces of surrealism today.
Julie Curtiss
There is something immediately striking about the paintings of French artist Julie Curtiss. Her compositions (featured image: ‘Bitter Apples’ – 2023) are bold yet restrained, often focusing on fragments of the human body — cascading hair, poised hands, elongated limbs. These seemingly simple elements take on unexpected symbolic weight.
Curtiss’s works carry a playful tension between elegance and unease. A swirl of glossy hair might dominate the entire canvas, while objects such as fruit, nails or patterned fabrics appear with heightened theatricality. The result feels simultaneously meticulous and mischievous, inviting viewers to question what lies beneath the polished surface.
Drew Dodge
The dreamlike worlds of American artist Drew Dodge unfold beneath luminous skies and tranquil landscapes. At first glance, his paintings appear almost pastoral, yet subtle distortions gradually reveal themselves.
Human figures merge with animals, bodies dissolve into symbolic forms and mythological references quietly surface. Dodge’s work carries a meditative quality, where surrealism becomes a poetic exploration of identity, desire and transformation.
Michaël Borremans
Belgian artist Michaël Borremans approaches surrealism with a quiet, unsettling precision. His paintings are technically refined, often echoing the compositional elegance of classical portraiture.
Yet beneath this polished surface lies something ambiguous. Figures appear masked, obscured or engaged in enigmatic rituals. The atmosphere feels suspended — as if the narrative exists just beyond our grasp. Borremans’s work reminds us that surrealism need not be flamboyant; sometimes its most powerful expressions are the most restrained.
Emily Mae Smith
In the vibrant compositions of Emily Mae Smith, surrealism takes on a playful yet incisive tone. Her paintings often feature anthropomorphic forms — most famously a broom-like figure that appears throughout her work.
Drawing inspiration from art history, mythology and popular culture, Smith’s imagery feels whimsical at first glance. Yet beneath its bright palette lies a sharp commentary on gender, power and representation. The surreal, in her hands, becomes both satire and storytelling.
GaHee Park
Domestic spaces become quietly uncanny in the paintings of South Korean artist GaHee Park. Her compositions often depict interiors filled with lush colours, abundant fruit and reclining figures.
Yet something always feels slightly off balance. Limbs multiply, perspectives shift and the atmosphere hovers somewhere between intimacy and absurdity. Park’s work demonstrates how surrealism can emerge not from fantastical landscapes, but from the subtle distortion of everyday life.
The Enduring Power of the Surreal
Surrealism has always lived in the space between logic and imagination. It resists neat explanations, inviting us instead into worlds where the familiar becomes strange and the unexpected suddenly feels possible.
Today’s artists are not simply revisiting a historic movement. They are reinterpreting it — shaping surrealism through their own experiences, cultural perspectives and contemporary visual language.
In a time when our realities are increasingly shaped by screens, algorithms and endless streams of imagery, the surreal feels oddly fitting. Perhaps it always has. After all, surrealism has never really been about escaping reality. If anything, it reveals just how curious, layered and wonderfully strange reality already is.
