Stranger than fiction … Magritte and Marc

Image via Wikipedia

For 10,000 Monopoly dollars, can you tell us what the Surrealist painter Rene Magritte and Marc Bolan of T-Rex have in common? Tick, tock, tick, tock … Well, it could be that neither of them were French, they were both before their time or they were very fond of a pipe or two after dinner. But the main reason is soon to be put on show at the Tate Liverpool Gallery, namely Le 16 Septembre – Lune et L’Arbre (16th September – Moon and Tree). A new exhibition called The Pleasure Principle starts at the gallery this Friday (more information here) aiming, in the words of the organizers, to “reveal the inspiration behind the artist’s celebrated style, focusing on the less explored aspects of Magritte’s life and artistic practice.”

Which still doesn’t tell us why an army of British Glam Rock fans would make a special pilgrimage to see a Belgian Surrealist’s tree. Until, that is, you realise that the “cosmic coincidence” is that Bolan was killed in a car crash on 16th September 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday, which he himself had predicted he would not see. Not only that, his car (driven by his girlfriend, because Bolan was, ironically, afraid of driving in case he suffered a crash), hit A TREE! Many people believe it to be suspiciously similar to the one Magritte had painted 21 years before…

So now you know. If you are going to be in Liverpool from this Friday, we’re sure the exhibition will be worth a look.

If you need any more convincing of the cosmic coincidences surrounding Bolan’s death, take a look at this (rather bad VHS) video of a Channel 4 programme from the late 80s (I think). Yes, it’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek 😉

Strange Random Surrealism Quote:

To be a surrealist… means barring from your mind all remembrance of what you have seen, and being always on the lookout for what has never been. – Rene Magritte

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