ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Surrealism

Surrealism is a way of making art that tries to show the weird and strange things that can happen in our dreams. You know how sometimes when you go to bed, you see things that don't make any sense? Like a talking animal or a big squishy cloud? Well, surrealism tries to bring those things into real life by using art.

Imagine if you could draw a picture of a flying elephant, or a person with a fish head. That's kind of what surrealism is all about. It's like taking the rules of the real world and throwing them out the window, so you can make something really cool and imaginative.

Surrealism started a long time ago, when a group of artists got together and said, "You know what would be cool? If we made art that wasn't boring or realistic, but instead showed the crazy things we can dream up." So they started making things that looked like they came from a fantasy world, using bright colors and exaggerated shapes.

One famous surrealism artist is Salvador Dali. He made a painting with a melting clock, like it was made out of ice cream instead of metal. Another artist, Rene Magritte, painted a picture of a man with a green apple for a face. These artists wanted to make people think differently about what art should be, by showing them things that were unexpected and strange.

Nowadays, surrealism is still used by artists to make cool and strange things. Some artists use computers to create surreal images, while others use paint or sculpture. The point is to make something that's not just boring or normal, but that surprises people and makes them think, "Wow, I never thought of that before!"