This furry tea service was a touchstone for Surrealism, but the artist was a victim of her own success.
Transformation
Multiple points of view are combined in the decoration of this vessel, tip it and see!
Feline-Head Bottle
The Yup’ik peoples, in one of the world’s coldest climates, made these ceremonial masks during the long winters.
North Wind Mask
“I have gazed into the face of Agamemnon,” boasted the man who discovered it—but is it really the Homeric hero?
Mask of Agamemnon
With her open mouth, tilted head, and soft flesh, Io exudes sensuality, giving herself up willingly to Jupiter.
Correggio, Jupiter and Io
Dalí’s forms are mirrored and doubled in this disconcerting painting, made in a state of “paranoiac critical activity.”
Salvador Dalí, Metamorphosis of Narcissus
We don’t know what the makers of this figure called her, but we can tell that she is at once human and animal.
Doe Shaman Effigy
Skin transforms into bark, limbs sprout branches, and stone softens into flesh. What a perfect subject for Bernini.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Apollo and Daphne
The artist transforms metal from alcohol bottles into textiles that represent libations for ancestors.
El Anatsui, Untitled
The Mende initiation rite for young women is the only known masquerade tradition where the mask-wearers are female.
Bundu / Sowei Helmet Mask (Mende peoples)
The austere display of this powerful object masks the complexity of its original context.
Elephant Mask (Bamileke Peoples)
This was buried in an offering at an Aztec temple, some 1500 years later and far from where it was made.
Olmec mask (offering 20 from the Templo ...
Though we lack an understanding of its use or cultural context, this turtle-shell mask was certainly precious.
Mask (Buk), Torres Strait, Mabuiag Island
Man Ray takes a common household object and renders it strange, dysfunctional, and dangerous.
Man Ray, The Gift
Picasso loved the magic of illusionism—but here, he shatters it.
Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Described by Clark as a “non object,” Bicho can take many shapes, and is manipulated by the viewer.
Lygia Clark, Bicho
Wearers can toggle between the faces of animals and mythical beings—all with the tug of a string.
Transformation masks
This nearly 2000-year-old old textile survives thanks to the arid environment of southern Peru where it was buried.
The Paracas Textile
Why is there a ghoulish skeleton on the reverse of this almost life-size sculpture?
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