On occasion of the Dalí Year and in conjunction with the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, "la Caixa" Foundation presents in the CaixaForum the exhibition Dalí. Mass culture, a first-ever, detailed analysis of the relationships between the painter / writer and mass culture, consisting of 400 works that include oil paintings, water colours, drawings, documents, adverts, films, designs and miscellaneous items, classified in eight sections.
Dalí. Mass culture analyses the relationship between the genius and industrial culture, his understanding of art and the complexity of modern times. There are three levels of exhibit: representation in Dalí's works of pop culture themes; the transformation of painting under the influence of serialised reproduction techniques (collage, performances), and his direct interventions in popular culture through the design of products others commissioned (in areas such as fashion, cinema or advertising).
"Let fashion be made and art perish", proclaimed the Dada artist Max Ernst in 1919. The slogan must have resounded in Dalí's head in the mid-1930s when he began to work with the designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Two perfume Bottles are inside the section “Fiat modes, pereat ars” “LE ROI SOLEIL” by Schiaparelli and the “SALVADOR DALI” by Dali. Like the surrealist objects of the 1930s, these designs are symbolic, perverse and without function.
The exhibit will travel to the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid). Part of the exhibit will also be available for viewing in the Dalí Museum in Saint Petersburg (Florida, USA) and the Boymans Museum (Rotterdam).
The exhibition Dalí. Mass culture, curated by Fèlix Fanés, can be visited at CaixaForum from 6 February to 23 May, 2004. (Barcelona)
Museu Nacional Centre d'Art Reina Sofia (Madrid), from 22 June to 29 August, 2004
Dalí Museum de Saint Petersburg (Florida, EUA), from October 2004 to January 2005
Museu Boymans (Rotterdam), from February to May, 2005
More information: Caixa Forum, Dali Mass Culture |
