Exquisite Corpse was an artistic idea used by the
Surrealists. Possibly dating to World
War I, it took hold in the mid 1920s. Usually more than one person participated.
Participants wrote or drew on a sheet of paper that
was folded to conceal the previous contribution and then he or she passed the
paper along to the next person. The show at the Museum of Modern Art, on view
through July 9, is especially concerned with how the Surrealists used the idea
of the Exquisite Corpse to create “fantastic composite figures.”
The American artist, Fred Becker (1913-2004), made a
woodcut entitled the Exquisite Corpse in 1960. Entirely his own piece, the
image includes “creases” that suggest where a sheet of paper might have been
folded.
The always witty Becker created a giant outlandish creature. There is a proof printed in
black and blue ink on brown paper and a final version, shown here, printed in black, green,
and red, on white paper.
