Surrealism, an artistic movement from the 1920s, believed true reality lies in the unconscious. Inspired by Freud, Surrealists used methods like automatic writing and chance to access hidden meanings, letting art emerge spontaneously. In this exhibition, Surrealism meets Artificial Intelligence through a creative exchange between Thomas Michel and an algorithm. Michel aims to reveal everyday poetry and dreamlike wonder, staying true to Surrealism’s belief in the power of the unexpected. Like Breton’s imagined “magnetic fields,” AI becomes a tool of the creative unconscious, generating images from data, chance, and interpretation. You are invited to explore this unknown realm at the w-i Gallery in Nuremberg, where Michel, AI, and Surrealism together stretch the boundaries of imagination. Albrecht-Dürer-Strasse 1, 90403 Nürnberg, July 3rd to 26th, 2025
Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement that emerged in the 1920s from the deep conviction that true reality does not lie in the visible world but in the unconscious. Inspired by Sigmund Freud’s dream theory, the Surrealists sought to bypass rational thought and access the hidden depths of the psyche. They developed techniques such as automatic writing (écriture automatique), where words flowed without conscious control, and the principle of objective chance, in which unexpected encounters and associations revealed new layers of meaning. For them, art was not planned – it simply happened.
In this exhibition, the ideas of Surrealism meet a new and fascinating technology: Artificial Intelligence. However, contrary to common belief, these works are not solely the product of a machine. They emerge from a dialogue between human and algorithm – a creative interplay between Thomas Michel and an AI that draws from the vast archive of art history, pop culture, and the collective consciousness of humanity. AI does not generate art out of nothing – it responds to a vision.
And it is precisely this vision that drives Thomas Michel: to summon the poetry of the everyday and to reveal the magic of dreams. His works tap into the immense reservoir of human imagination to bring the unknown into the light – fully in the spirit of Surrealism, which always believed that the greatest wonders arise where logic and chance collide.
André Breton would have embraced AI as a tool of the creative unconscious – a contemporary form of the “magnetic fields” that give birth to new realities. Machines do not think, but they dream – and in their dreams, we find images that are not the product of a single mind but are born from the interplay of data, chance, and interpretation. This exhibition invites you to explore the unknown, to embrace chance as an artistic ally, and to witness how Thomas Michel, Artificial Intelligence, and Surrealism together push the boundaries of imagination.