Salvador Dalí in Paris
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If you are in possession of the poster with the melting clocks, this exhibition certainly is made for you! Dalí turned himself into a manufactured product, a ringmaster with a twirled moustache.
Over thirty years after the major retrospective exhibit devoted to the painter at the Centre Pompidou, Dalí’s art has once again managed to attract the attention of the media (won the prize for best exhibition at the “Globes de Cristal”).
Dalí is both a key figure in the history of contemporary art and one of the most questionable masters of our age (in fact, the artist believed himself to be divine and a genius), often criticized for his controversial political attitudes. However, Dalí is primarily known for his surrealist compositions of the 1930s and for his television appearances. He is also the creator of the well-known ”paranoiac-critical” method (optical illusions and other multiple images)
Here, he used himself as the case study, notably under the prism of Freudian psychoanalysis. Dalí also invented the Dalí -Showman, a manipulator and creator of temporary works and media.
Friendship with Buñuel and Lorca
His friendship with the other two artists, Bunuel the filmmaker and Lorca the poet, inspired a new style in Dalí ‘s paintings.. In 1927, Bunuel made him open up to cinema, seeing in this art form a new form of creation. Bunuel co-wrote ”Un Chien Andalou” and Hitchcock, who had approached Dalí for help with a dream sequence in his upcoming thriller, “Spellbound”, staring Bergman and Gregory Peck. He was unhappy with the fuzziness of Hollywood dream sequences.
“I wanted to convey the dream with great visual sharpness and clarity–sharper than film itself,”
Un Chien Andalou
In 1929, after he had met Gala, Dalí stood at a crucial turning point in his career. He met the surrealists. From now on, Dalí undertook all sorts of transgressions, in particular in paintings where now every detail seemed to count: invisible father, blasphemed mother, masturbation, melting objects, horses (the orgasm), eggs (the male sexual anatomy)... Dalí claimed that:
''Paranoia uses the external world to reveal the obsessive idea, with the disturbing characteristic of making the reality of this idea effective for others''.
Dalí influenced many things. He invented the shoe-hat, the lobster telephone, the lip-couch…His idea was simple, he just putted two basic things together and made one original. Dali showed us that everything is possible. The dreamworld and irrational unexpected things became more or less realistic now. He painted his fears and his fascinations. Dalí just left an indelible mark in cinema, design, jewelry, painting, fashion, advertising, comedy…, there isn’t much that Dalí hasn’t changed.
“When I paint, the Sea Roars Others Splash about in the bath”
Dalí created his own Theatre/Museum in Figueres (the Catalonian city where Salvador (le Sauveur) Dalí was born. The city often returns in his paintings.) in the 60s. The Museum includes the Mae West Room, which is currently reconstructed here in the Centre Pomidou.
The current exhibition in Paris brings together over 120 paintings, objects, sketches and films. When you enter the showroom, the first thing you notice is that you stand in a giant reconstructed Egg (typical for Dalí who was fascinated by eggs).
The whole exhibition is in fact an extraordinarily lively presentation, as you can hear Dalí talking all throughout. However, there is a lot more than just melting clocks and eggs. The exhibition offers many old creations by Dalí, from almost day one of his career
to his last work.
Exhibition:
21 November 2012 – 25 March 2013 from 11h00 to 23h00 Buy here
I would like to have a lobster telephon !