LACMA's Latest Exhibit, In Wonderland, Features The Female Surrealist Artists Of North America.

When we meandered through the giant gallery space of LACMA's latest visual feat, In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States last week, we were in utter and complete awe (no joke, tears were dripping into our champagne). Never before have we felt so proud to be female!

This ultra-empowering exhibit features the works of Frida Kahlo, Dorothea Tanning, Helen Lundeberg, and our favorite, Gertrude Abercrombie. Not only will the dreamlike, avant-garde art send your eyes and minds into overdrive, the backstory will leave you wowed for days at just how far we've come as women.

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If you didn't know, the Surrealist movement is largely thought of as a male and European-based aesthetic, and we ladies took a backseat as mere muses on that side of the pond. Here in North America, where freedom of ideas reigned supreme (sometimes), women were able to transcend that role, and get behind the canvas to become true creators. Those struggles were oftentimes depicted in a nightmarish scape, as seen by Gertrude Abercrombie's The Courtship, above. Although at first glance it may not be obvious, the artist apparently had a great sense of humor, and had her tongue firmly planted in cheek when she illustrated her frustrations with the then-patriarchal society via a mock hold-up (God, this is good stuff!).

Don't worry, though, there are plenty of bright and sunny pieces, too — by the time you finish peeping this intense display, you'll feel like you artistically understand the wondrous roller coaster of life. And because you can't behold a show of this beauteous caliber without rocking an achingly cool look yourself, we've rounded up an ensemble below that we're sure fashion-forward Frida would approve of!

When: Now through May 6; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 12 p.m. to 8 pm; Friday: 12 p.m. to 9 pm; Saturday, Sunday: 11 a.m. to 8 pm; closed Wednesday.
Where: LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard (At Fairfax Avenue); 323-857-6000.

Gertrude Abercrombie,
"The Courtship," 1949;
Oil on Masonite; 21 ¾ x 25 ¼ in.; Gertrude Abercrombie Trust; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, by Nathan Keay.

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