ARTIST SUBMISSION portal now open for SURREAL SALON 19

BATON ROUGE GALLERY’S INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION featuring pop-surrealism & lowbrow art

2027 SPECIAL GUEST JUROR: LAUREN YS

Surreal Salon - the annual international exhibition celebrating the pop-surrealist/lowbrow movement - returns to Baton Rouge Gallery (“BRG”) for its 19th year this January. The exhibition, held in partnership with the LSU School of Art, features artists from across the globe, each hand-picked by the show’s Special Guest Juror, Lauren YS, via a blind jurying process.

For nearly two decades Surreal Salon has featured paintings, photography, ceramics, textiles, mixed media works, and more. Now, a new collection of artists and media will be added to the list with the show’s 19th edition in 2027.

More than $2,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to participating artists in conjunction with the exhibition, and the artist whose work is honored as Best in Show will be profiled in an editorial by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

THE EXHIBITION

ON VIEW jan 2 - 24, 2027

Now in its 19th year, Surreal Salon continues to engage audiences with a visual art experience unlike any other in the region, highlighting the growing popularity and exceptional quality of the pop-surrealist/lowbrow movement. Spotlighting works from across America and beyond, the exhibition typically features a wide range of media and subject matter making for a dynamic snapshot of the movement today and perhaps how it continues to evolve.

The exhibition will be open to all, free of charge, from January 2 - 24, 2027, (Tues – Sun, 12–6 p.m.).

Artists may submit up to three works to be considered, all covered under the $35 jurying fee.

ARTISTS: SUBMIT UP TO THREE WORKS HERE (via CaFÉ)

Artists selected for inclusion in the exhibition are slated to be announced in late November.

LAUREN YS

SPECIAL GUEST JUROR for surreal salon 19

Over the years, Surreal Salon has had the privilege of enlisting artists at the front edge of pop-surrealism to jury Surreal Salon. That has included internationally-renowned artists such as Ron English, Swoon, Camille Rose Garcia, Marco Mazzoni, Beth Cavener, Elizabeth McGrath, Greg “Craola” Simkins, and many more. That tradition is once again renewed with Lauren YS set to personally curate the works featured in 2027 (thanks in part to a partnership with the Louisiana State University School of Art).

ABOUT LAUREN YS

Lauren YS is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work is influenced by multiple stages of focus, both geographically and in practice. Their signature style of high-chroma design elements interwoven with dynamic portraiture creates lush, florid pictorial portals to worlds that are as just as they are visually captivating. Lauren’s work seeks to bring an element of the fantastical and narrative fluidity to the dignity of their characters’ person-hoods, with a specific passion for creating space for queer and BIPOC stories. From large-scale murals to multi-layered works on canvas, Lauren’s work draws inspiration from queer worlds, mythology, dreams, psychedelia, animation, cybernetic organisms, travel, nature, human dignity, metaphysical wonderings and their mixed Asian-American heritage.

Lauren’s vision encapsulates the lifetime search for identity and self-hood, a love of local myth, and the constant pursuit of promoting anti-racism and just futures.

THE SURREAL SALON SOIREE

SAVE THE DATE: saturday, january 23, 2027

This one-of-a-kind night always expands the Surreal Salon exhibition to, in essence, include hundreds of works of art by way of the costumes YOU put together to help punctuate this unique exhibition! In addition to the over five dozen works featured in the Surreal Salon exhibition, the big night includes live musical performances, interactive elements, food trucks, and a number of other surprises. Stay tuned for more announcements about 2027’s Soiree and for when tickets go on sale.