Penelope Rosemont (born 1942 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is a visual artist, writer, publisher, and social activist who attended

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts i ...

. She has been a participant in the Surrealist Movement since 1965. With

Franklin Rosemont Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009) was an American poet, artist, historian, street speaker, and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group. Over four decades, Franklin produced a body of work, of declarations, manifestos, poetry, collage, hidden hi ...

, Bernard Marszalek, Robert Green and Tor Faegre, she established the Chicago Surrealist Group in 1966. She was in 1964-1966 a member of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

(IWW), commonly known as the Wobblies, and was part of the national staff of

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

(SDS) in 1967-68. Her influences include Andre Breton and Guy Debord of the Situationist International, Emma Goldman and

Lucy Parsons Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons (born Lucia Carter; 1851 – March 7, 1942) was an American labor organizer, radical socialist and anarcho-communist. She is remembered as a powerful orator. Parsons entered the radical movement following her marriage ...

Visual art

In 1986, Penelope Rosemont's painting the "Marriage of Heaven and Hell" was included in the Venice Biennale, selected by Arturo Schwartz to be in the Art and Alchemy section. A painter, photographer, and collagist, Rosemont is credited with having invented a number of surrealist collage methods including the "landscapade" and "insect music" n which cut-out shapes are placed on the background of a musical score Rosemont is a writer and graphic designer for Arsenal/Surrealist Subversion and other publications. Her painting ''The Night Time is the Right Time'' "was selected by the Chicago Jazz Institute for the 2000

Chicago Jazz Festival The Chicago Jazz Festival is an admission-free, four-day annual jazz festival in Chicago's Millennium Park. It is run by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and programmed with the assistance of Jazz Institute of Chicago during ...

T-shirt". A number of Rosemont's drawings and artwork appear in her books and are particularly abundant in ''Surrealist Experiences: 1001 Dawns, 221 Midnights''.

Surrealism in and outside of Chicago

The Rosemonts write with enthusiasm about their meeting with Andre Breton and Surrealist group members during a stay in Paris in December 1965- May 1966. Penelope writes about this important period in her life in the books ''Surrealist Experiences: 1001 Dawns, 221 Midnights'' and in her autobiographical work ''Dreams and Everyday Life: Andre Breton, Surrealism, Rebel Worker, SDS, & the Seven Cities of Cibola, A 1960s Notebook'' while Franklin discusses it in his book, ''An Open Entrance into the Shut Palace of Wrong Numbers''. In the '' Surrealist Experiences'', Penelope Rosemont writes about a nascent group of Surrealists that had already formed in Chicago, the Rebel Worker group, before they met Breton and in fact, this was the impetus to go to Paris, to meet the Surrealists they had been corresponding with. She writes that the initial plan was to go to London first and then to Paris. She writes "thanks to a mean-spirited British immigration bureaucrat," they were deported to Paris. That event was fortuitous because the surrealist exhibition L’Ecart absolu was taking place at the time; she attended a New Years Eve party organized by surrealists;and she was able to talk with Breton before he "became seriously ill a few months later." The Rosemonts are referenced in Helena Lewis' 1988 book on Surrealism and Politics, ''Dada Turns Red.''. There, Lewis wrote: "There was also a group of young people in Chicago in the late 1960s who made a connection between Surrealism and the old IWW, ''The Rebel Worker'' in which translations of Surrealist writing appeared . . . and they also published an art anthology of Surrealist political texts, in which the editor, Franklin Rosemont, explained how Surrealism was relevant to his movement." In his book Freedom Dreams published in Boston, 2002 Robin D.G. Kelley writes “my search for an even more elaborate, complete dream of freedom...thanks to the many wonderful chance encounters with Franklin Rosemont, Penelope Rosemont, Ted Joans, Laura Corsiglia and Jayne Cortez, I discovered surrealism...right under my nose, so to speak, buried in the rich black soil of Afrodiasporic culture.” p. 4 The Chicago Surrealist group, under their imprint Black Swan Press, published the journal Arsenal/Surrealist Subversion sporadically from 1970 to 1989 which featured the work of

Richard Huelsenbeck Carl Wilhelm Richard Hülsenbeck (aka Charles R. Hulbeck) (23 April 189220 April 1974) was a German writer, poet, and psychoanalyst born in Frankenau, Hessen-Nassau who was associated with the formation of the Dada movement. Life and work Huel ...

, Andre Breton, Georges Bataille, Ted Joans

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

and many other Surrealists, well-known and lesser known. Franklin and Penelope Rosemont were on the editorial board, along with (for issue 4), co-editors Paul Garon, Joseph Jablonski and

Philip Lamantia Philip Lamantia (October 23, 1927 – March 7, 2005) was an American poet and lecturer. His poems were often visionary, ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic, exploring the subconscious world of dreams and linking it to daily experiences, while s ...

Books: poetry, memoirs, and history

Penelope Rosemont is the editor and wrote extensive introductions for her book '' Surrealist Women: An International Anthology'' (University of Texas, 1998), a book of over 500 pages of writing and art by women in the Surrealist movement, both past and present, dating back to the beginnings of Surrealism in the 1920s. It features Meret Oppenheim, Mary Low,

Leonora Carrington Mary Leonora Carrington (6 April 191725 May 2011) was a British-born Mexican artist, surrealist painter, and novelist. She lived most of her adult life in Mexico City and was one of the last surviving participants in the surrealist movement of ...

Nancy Cunard Nancy Clara Cunard (10 March 1896 – 17 March 1965) was a British writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. She became a muse to some of the ...

, Frida Kahlo,

Dorothea Tanning Dorothea Margaret Tanning (25 August 1910 – 31 January 2012) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by Surrealism. Biography Dorothea Tanning was born and raised in Galesburg, Illin ...

, Elisa Breton,

Kay Sage Katherine Linn Sage (June 25, 1898 – January 8, 1963), usually known as Kay Sage, was an American Surrealist artist and poet active between 1936 and 1963. A member of the Golden Age and Post-War periods of Surrealism, she is mostly recognized f ...

Rikki Ducornet Rikki Ducornet (; born Erica DeGre; April 19, 1943) is an American writer, poet, and artist. Her work has been described as “linguistically explosive and socially relevant,” and praised for “deploy ngtactics familiar to the historical avan ...

and over one hundred more. She is the author of ''Surrealist Experiences: 1001 Dawns, 221 Midnights'' ( Black Swan Press, 2000), and books of poetry, including ''Beware of the Ice'', and ''Athanor'' (1971). In 1997, Black Swan Press released the book ''The Forecast is Hot!, and Other Collective Declarations of the Surrealist Movement in the United States'', which Penelope co-authored with Franklin Rosemont and fellow Chicago Surrealist Paul Garon. She also edited ''The Story of Mary MacLane & Other Writings'' by

Mary MacLane Mary MacLane (May 1, 1881 – ''c''. August 6, 1929) was a controversial Canadian-born American writer whose frank memoirs helped usher in the confessional style of autobiographical writing. MacLane was known as the "Wild Woman of Butte".Wa ...

in 1998, which was re-released by Charles H. Kerr, having originally been published in 1902. MacLane has been "hailed as the first 'New Woman' in literature, the first flapper and a precursor of surrealism." In 2008 her memoir came out, ''Dreams & Everyday Life, André Breton, Surrealism, Rebel Worker, SDS & the Seven Cities of Cibola'', about her life in the 1960s from moving to Chicago to meeting Andre Breton in Paris, to London and back again to Chicago in 1968. A collection of true Chicago stories, ''Armitage Avenue Transcendentalists'' edited by Rosemont and Janina Ciezadlo came out in 2009. She also wrote a foreword to ''Crime & Criminals: Address to the Prisoners in the Cook County Jail & Other Writings on Crime'' by

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...

. In 2018 “Make Love, Not War: Surrealism 1968!” co-authored with Don LaCoss and Michael Lowy, was published by Charles H. Kerr Publishing, Chicago. ''Surrealism: Inside the Magnetic Fields'', which recounts her experiences and historical perspective on the field of surrealism, was published by City Lights in 2019.

Women and surrealism

In addition to editing the anthology ''Surrealist Women,'' Rosemont has written extensively about women, including Toyen, specifically, as well as many Surrealist women, who are often omitted from the history of Surrealism, in her book ''Surrealist Experiences'' She has also been outspoken in public discussions and articles in the promotion and defense of the women of Surrealism. By her presence in the American Surrealist movement, her activism, and her publishing, she has been one of the people who have raised the profile of women in the movement.

Charles H. Kerr Publishing

In 1983 she and

became directors of Charles H. Kerr & Company, a publisher of books on history and Chicago history The Alternatives in Publication Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

awards the Jackie Eubanks Memorial Award, which "recognizes outstanding achievement in promoting the acquisition and use of alternative materials in libraries.". In 2001, the Rosemonts and Carlos Cortez received the award for their work "rescuing and re-charging" Charles H. Kerr Publishing."

Social activism

Penelope Rosemont was a member of the IWW (Wobblies) and SDS in the 1960s. With

she compiled a collection of pamphlets, wall posters, and periodicals focusing on the IWW acquired by the Newberry Library in 2008 Her book ''Armitage Avenue Transcendentalists'' details stories in the lives of a number of activists, including famous Chicagoan Studs Terkel. In 1977, continuing the Surrealist tradition of protesting bourgeois art, Penelope Rosemont and other surrealists were arrested for handing out leaflets as part of a Surrealist action protesting the "giant billy club" called the "bat column" on which Chicago spent $100,000 to erect the Claes Oldenberg

Batcolumn ''Batcolumn'' (or ''Bat Column'') is a outdoor sculpture in Chicago. Designed by Claes Oldenburg, it takes the shape of a baseball bat standing on its knob. It consists of gray-painted COR-TEN steel arranged into an open latticework structure. ...

.Hyde Park Herald, https://newspaperarchive.com/us/illinois/chicago/chicago-hyde-park-herald/1977/04-20/page-14?tag=penelope+rosemont&rtserp=tags/?pc=5196&psi=37&pci=7&pf=penelope&pl=rosemont/

References

External links

Chicago Surrealism Update with Penelope Rosemont, ''Chicago's Heartland Show''.

* [http://criticallegalthinking.com/2011/01/12/dreams-of-arson-the-arson-of-dreams-surrealism-in-68/ LaCoss, Don.Dreams of Arson & the Arson of Dreams: Surrealism in ‘68, Critical Legal Thinking. This article talks about the Rosemonts meeting Andre Breton in Chicago.]
Entry on Charles H. Kerr Publishing,written by Penelope Rosemont, as one of the editors Franklin and Penelope Rosemont collection of IWW publications
at the Newberry Library
Sakolsky , Ron. THE SURREALIST ADVENTURE AND THE POETRY of DIRECT ACTION: Passionate Encounters Between the Chicago Surrealist Group, the Wobblies and Earth First! Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, Issue 8.

The Psychopathology of Work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosemont, Penelope 1942 births American artists American publishers (people) American surrealist artists Industrial Workers of the World members Lake Forest College alumni Living people Women surrealist artists Surrealist poets Members of Students for a Democratic Society Critics of work and the work ethic