Name: Interpreting MoMA: The Surrealist Book
Start: 2026-11-05T17:00
End: 2026-11-05T19:30
Location: Education Center

Thu, Nov 5, 5:00–7:30 p.m.

Education Center, Floor 1

The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building

Free, registration or RSVP required

Visitors who are Deaf or hard of hearing

Ray Johnson. Th Thee for and Lai Book. c. 1955. Book with cut-and-pasted printed, colored, and metallic paper and hand-lettered text in ink on irregularly shaped paper leaves, some with cutout holes, foldout flaps, synthetic leather, and partially erased handwritten text in pencil; cover with cut-and-pasted printed, colored, and metallic paper on paper over boards, pages 7 5/16 × 5 13/16" (18.5 × 14.8 cm) (irreg., approx.), book (closed) 8 1/8 × 6 1/2 × 7/16" (20.7 × 16.5 × 1.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Helen and Sam Zell. © 2026 Estate of Ray Johnson Image description: A book lies open displaying two pages of collaged images and paper cutouts. At the center is a black-and-white photograph of Marilyn Monroe below the handwritten text “you’re having a ball?” At the center of the right page is a newsprint cutout of James Dean above the text “i like cars.” Along the right edge is a partial black and white photograph above a fragment of text. On the center of the left page is a golden metallic rectangular paper with smaller white square sections of text “this little golden book belongs to Remy Charlip.” Along the left edge is a cutout of Venus from the painting The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. Pairs of circles in various colors are collaged on the top and bottom edges of both pages.

Please join us for MoMA’s bimonthly program welcoming individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing to participate in an ASL-interpreted, private gallery talk focusing on one of MoMA’s exhibitions, along with a wine and snack reception.

In November, we will explore The Surrealist Book: Tomorrow Lives in Mirrors with the curatorial team. The exhibition showcases a trove of rare artists’ books including special editions printed on unusual papers or enhanced with supplementary materials, unique maquettes and singular sketchbooks filled with collages and fantastical drawings, sculptural bindings that turn books into hybrid, interactive artworks, and much more. Whether sparking disquiet or delight, books, the Surrealists insisted, “are doors.” Whoever “opens them is immediately thrown into a higher realm.”

Interpreting MoMA is offered free of charge. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Registration opens on October 8 at 10:00 a.m.

For more information or to register, please email [email protected] or call Access Programs at (212) 408-6447.

Accessibility

Wheelchair Accessible
The Cullman Education and Research Center entrance has a power-assist door. Seating options include gallery stools and minimal gallery benches. Gallery stools, wheelchairs, and rollators are available by request at all Museum entrances on a first-come, first-served basis.

Accessible and all-gender restrooms are located in the Cullman Education Building. Accessible restrooms are also located near the tour galleries.

Service dogs welcome
Guide dogs and other trained service animals are always welcome.

Sign language interpretation available
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided for this program.

Closed caption audio description symbol
Live captioning (CART) and audio description are available for public programs upon request with two weeks’ advance notice. MoMA will make every effort to provide accommodation for requests made with less than two weeks’ notice. Please email [email protected] or call (212) 408-6447 to make a request for these services.

For more information on accessibility at MoMA, please visit moma.org/visit/accessibility. For accessibility questions or accommodation requests, please email [email protected] or call (212) 408-6447.

Major funding is provided by The Taft Foundation.

Additional support is provided by Sarah K. de Coizart, J.E. and Z.B. Butler Foundation, Allene Reuss Memorial Trust, Werner and Elaine Dannheisser Fund for Older Adults at MoMA in honor of Agnes Gund, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Megara Foundation, Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation, and the Annual Education Fund.

This event accompanies The Surrealist Book: Tomorrow Lives in Mirrors.
This event is part of Interpreting MoMA.

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research/circulating-film.

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].