Unica Zürn (1916 - 1970)

Unica was a German writer, poet and surrealist visual artist who spent most of her artistic career in Paris and whose life came to a tragic end by suicide. She started as a freelance writer in Germany but in 1953 met her second husband, Hans Bellmar, at his exhibition in Berlin. She soon became a subject of his photographic work and they began a relationship, moving together to Paris. In Paris she came into contact with the surrealist artists Breton, Ernst, Ray and Duchamp. She started creating anagrams and automatic drawings, exhibited in Paris and Berlin, and was part of the International Surrealist Exhibition in 1959. The last two decades of her life she created a body of visual art largely influenced by her battle with mental illness. She spent time in mental institutions and it can be seen in her depictions of the multiple ‘seeing eyes’ in her drawings, mimicking the experiences she had of being watched. 5 years after her death, despite their tumultuous relationship, her partner of 16 years, Bellmar, was buried next to her in Paris. Her work continues to be exhibited through Ubu Gallery.