Over the years, Surreal Salon has enlisted well-known and well-respected jurors for Surreal Salon – including internationally-renowned artists such as Ron English, Camille Rose Garcia, Marco Mazzoni, Beth Cavener, Elizabeth McGrath, Greg “Craola” Simkins, and many others - to assist in making Surreal Salon as artistically engaging as possible. That tradition is once again renewed with Swoon (Caledonia Curry) filling this role (thanks in part to a partnership with the Louisiana State University School of Art). She has personally curated the collection of works that will be included in the exhibition.  

Caledonia Curry, aka Swoon, is a Brooklyn-based street artist. Drawing on both realistic and fantastical elements, she has been transforming the world with her immersive installations, wheat paste portraits, and community-based social justice projects for the last two decades. While Curry’s work has adorned the walls of more classical institutions - including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the Tate Modern – her overarching aim is to create accessible art that transports audiences while simultaneously shedding light on pressing social and environmental issues. 

Swoon is best known as one of the first women street artists to gain international recognition. Curry’s deep consideration of form is inseparable from her vision of the transformative role of public art in communities. Her critical engagement with issues of social and environmental justice have positioned her at the forefront of the emergent discourse around socially-engaged practice. Her commitment to expanding the possibilities of art to repair trauma and foster personal and collective healing continues to drive her substantial contributions to contemporary art through experimentation with portraiture, sculpture, installation, and stop-motion animation.