SALVADOR Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol aka Salvador Dalí, born in Figueres, Catalan, descendant from the Moors, son of a notary public, a skilled draftsman, sculptor, imaginative, passionate, excessive, designer, explorer, rebel, loud, lover, artist, surrealist, eccentric, a madman, a genius.
Profile of TIme, 1977, the interminabale relationship between man & time |
Dali didn’t hold back in exploring and utilizing art’s diverse media- oil, watercolor, drawing, graphics, and sculpture, film, photography, performing arts, and jewelry. It must have been a busy lifetime of creativity for Dali from a young age. What transpired after molded him into the “madman” or “genius”, or both, that turned him into one of 20th century’s most illustrious artists having created the highly recognizable images of the surrealist movement, the Persistence of Memory completed in 1931, was his best known piece.
As an artist, Dali was constantly growing and evolving. The body of his work reveals it, from early impressionist paintings through his transitional surrealist works, and into his classical period.
As imaginative, striking and bizarre his surreal art is, his behavior was comparable. Dali’s eccentricity (the flamboyant and iconic moustache influenced by 17th century Spanish master painter Diego Velazquez as an example) and public conduct drew more attention than to his art to the dismay of his supporters and to the irritation of his critics.
Having seen his works in some of his masterpieces in the best museums before, the ArtScience Museum let me to enter into the mind of this genius once more. On exhibition across ten galleries is Dali: Mind of a Genius displaying over 250 of this artist’s works in three themed areas: Femininity and Sensuality, Religion and Mythology, Dreams and Fantasy.
Sculptures, furniture, collages, gold objects, photographs and sketches, it was certainly a worthwhile immersion in art by one of the greatest artist of our time. I have to thank this fabulous new art house, the ArtScience Museum, for bringing European art closer to us to admire.
Now, it’s your turn to say “Hello Dali!”
Dali: Mind of a Genius-The Exhibition will run until October 30, 2011. To know more about the ArtScience Museum and its other exhibitions, visit http://www.marinabaysands.com/Singapore-Attractions/ArtScience-Museum/
For more travel and lifestyle stories, visit: http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/ and http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on September 22, 2011.
Alice in Wonderland, 1977 |
Anthropomorphic Cabinet, 1982 |
Dali Flower, 1967, in 18 karat gold |
Leda armchair 1930s-1990s, various materials |
Homage to Terpsichore, 1977 |
Adam & Eve, 1984 |
Space Elephant, 1980. Dreamy figure, tecnology, robustness & fragility |
Space Venus 1977, beauty of the flesh is temporary but beauty of art is timeless |
The Unicorn, 1977, mythical symbol of purity & virginity, Dali chose to portray it as a phallic figure |
Woman of Time, 1973, THe clock poses the question, is beuaty dependent on time or is it eternal |
CONVERSATION