Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists

Opening this week at Di Donna Gallery is a fantastic show celebrating the intersection between nineteenth and early twentieth century Yup’ik masks from the central Alaskan coast, and early twentieth century avant-garde works of the Surrealists. The exhibition brings together notable sculptures and paintings from the surrealist movement in conversation with rare Yup’ik masks; the commanding, humanistic qualities of these expressive ritual masks were highly influential to artists such as André Breton, Enrico Donati, Matta and Kay Sage. A curated selection of carved, feathered and decorated ornamental facial-coverings will be presented alongside distinguished works by artists Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Victor Brauner, Yves Tanguy and André Masson, amongst many others; a Must See show demonstrating the remarkable connections between the Surrealist movement and native works from the largely unknown and undiscovered territory of Southwestern Alaska.