The world of the arts throws up its fair share of larger-than-life figures. The likes of Picasso, Andy Warhol and Vincent Van Gogh spring to mind. And they say Leonardo Da Vinci was a bit of a character too. But, when it comes to the pantheon of 20th century artists there’s no one who outdoes Salvador Dali in the maverick stakes.
The man was simply irrepressible, both in life and in his work. From his impishly sculpted waxed moustache, flowing locks and effusive facial expressions, Dali’s energy and relentless joie de vivre constantly poured out of him. The media adored him, and people from all walks of life were drawn to him, even though his professional counterparts didn’t always dig his line of thought.
Dali’s polychromic take on life, and art, hits you square between the eyes as soon as you enter the dedicated display area on the ground floor of the Arena shopping mall in Herzliya. The “A Journey Into Fantasy” exhibition, sponsored by American Express, is currently on show there, through to October 2 and, judging by the attendance when I popped over there a couple of weeks ago it has market appeal.
The expansive spread takes in over 100 items, and covers most of the expected Dali bases. His instantly recognizable melting watch is in there, in various guises, as are the sensual lips sofa, an elephant or two and some fantastical improvisations on piano shapes. Dali, in fact, had a thing with musical instruments, and also with zoological objects and a generous dosage of eroticism.
Bronze sculptures became a staple of his output from the mid-1930s through to his death in 1989. Naturally, it was never just about conveying reality as most of us see it. There was always some kind of transformation as he imbued the original form with some unexpected metamorphic element that throws you off your stride, and gets you wondering what the man meant when, for instance, he fashioned an elephant with improbably long spindly legs, and topped it with a brass figure in mid-stride trumpeting some noteworthy event or other. We get to ponder that in Herzliya with the Triumphant Elephant work, which Dali completed in his later years. There is a mischievous quality to the sculpture, and an alluring sense of flight which makes you want to soar yourself or, at the very least, smile.
DALI WAS big on symbolism, and his favored images pop up recurrently throughout his lengthy career. He frequently fed off childhood experiences, thereby expressing some of the formative events in his life, and his deepest held beliefs. His limpid watch first appears in his landmark 1931 painting The Persistence of Memory, which became one of the most recognizable works of the Surrealism movement.
He was always looking for new riffs on his favored themes as he worked through his obsession with time. He also constantly searched for ways to illustrate fire, his fascination with the female form, and his fear of sexuality.
Much of that comes through in Woman Aflame. It is a singularly enigmatic sculpted work. For starters, the figure is faceless, the posture is challenging, to say the least, with the woman’s body arched backwards at an unlikely sharp tangent. The backs of the legs, below the knee, appear to be on fire and three drawers protrude from the front of the torso. The flames seem to be divorced from the general artistic ambiance, while the drawers harbor untold stories and, possibly, emotions.
A Journey Into Fantasy also reveals that Dali had a soft spot for this country. He created the Twelve Tribes of Israel set of colored etchings to mark Israel’s 25th Day of Independence. He looked upon the modern state as the successor of the twelve tribes, which he considered a historical development with – as per his artistic wont – surrealistic overtones. Interestingly Dali features Joseph as one of the tribes, while it is generally believed that his sons, Ephraim and Menasheh, attained that title. Be that as it may, Dali allows himself plentiful poetic license in conveying his feelings and thoughts about the Israelite division into groups, portraying Joseph, for example, as a bearded unicorn with a levitating tree next to it. Dan gets a particularly fanciful showing, with a towering snake on thin stakes, or spikes, with the figure of a young girl with outstretched arms who may be saluting the serpent or expressing fear. There is also a Pegasus galloping off somewhere and a crutch underpinning the middle of one of the serpentine coils. The supportive fixture is also a popular element of Dali’s work, across all disciplines.
It is unclear if Abba Eban, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs at the time, was enamored with the Dali interpretation of the biblical episode. His somewhat oblique response to the gift noted: “Whether for their ambiguity or ambivalence, these portraits hold a definitive significance for us. Through his abundant and diverse imagination, Dali in this album helps to immortalize the Israeli civilization at its beginning, to realize the mystical character of its existence and of its development.”
Eban may have been erring on the side of intentionally noncommittal diplomacy, but it sounds suitably impressive and, more important, the etchings are too.
THERE IS more in the way of graphic gems in the “Dali & Illustrated Books” section of the exhibition. The Spaniard had a penchant for literature of all ilks, including texts relating to mythology, religion and history, which he exploited to the full, creating a vast repertoire of images, personalities and allegorical means of illustrating well-known tales. The stories he visually expounded on came from the Bible and Shakespeare, as well as more contemporary literary fare such as Alice in Wonderland.
Vibrant colors were stock-in-trade for Dali, and he was always happy to delve into narratives that packed high drama and, frequently, not a little controversy. Bizet’s high-octane opera Carmen provided Dali with an ideal sounding board for letting his hair down and strutting some in-your-face creations.
Colored glass sculpture may be one of Dali’s lesser-known areas of exploration, but it gets a decent rollout in Herzliya, and quite rightly. La Main Divine (The Divine Hand) is a worthy inclusion in the exhibition, and the section serves to underscore Dali’s versatility and flexibility of creative thought and expression.
In short, should you find yourself near the Herzliya Marina, you’d be well advised to drop by “A Journey Into Fantasy” for a thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining and intriguing time. I would also recommend taking in the VR space at the end which, with technologically tailored goggles in place, will take you on a magical mystery tour deep into Dali’s world and captivating work.
As the exhibition producers note: “Our challenge was to create a museum where the whole family can experience Dali in optimal conditions, because this is absolutely a one-time opportunity.”
Spot on.
For tickets and more information: *9066 and www.daliarena.co.il