Dali and me

Published on by bushboy

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #209: Surreal

I have loved the art works of Salvador Dali since I was a teenager. He led me on a path of discovery of Surrealism in art with artists like Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Yves Tanguy and Frieda Kahlo among others.

“The power of Surrealism within visual arts allowed artists to unleash the power of their subconscious mind in order to create artworks of absurd imagery, that were both somewhat amusing and menacing at the same time. This allowed Surrealism artists to create types of contradictions within their paintings that were not previously seen in the art world. What made the movement so revolutionary was that it was not limited to any specific medium or style, rather, it spanned all disciplines that were able to manifest the eerie side of reality.” https://artincontext.org/surrealist-artists/

Whilst in Europe I was lucky enough to visit a couple of Dali galleries, one in Barcelona and his main theatre museum in Figueres, with it’s egg shaped walls.

Inside I was in wonder at the number of art works

Most of the best known, The Persistence of Memory etc were in other galleries around the world. The one that grabbed my attention first as a teenager was Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) so of course when looking for a calendar in 2019 I found a Dali one.

Dali also did quite a number of statues and figurines.

In the museum you enter a gallery level and look down on this sculpture and wonder what it is. Once at ground level you can see the whole idea behind the work.

Of course one of my favourites combines to two things I like, Dali’s art and elephants. I have a framed copy of Swans Reflecting Elephants on my wall

Which brings me to the part about me. For quite a while now I have been contributing to Jez’s Water Water Everywhere by taking photos of reflections in water and turning them into abstracts, perhaps they could be seen as surreal?

One of my favourite things to photograph is nature especially birds. This is combination of water, reflection and a Pelican which is unaltered, just as I saw it. A Surreal Pelican?

Nature does present a chance to see what can be done with a spiders web and imagination

I hope you enjoyed a wander through my thoughts of art and my photos.

40 thoughts on “Dali and me”

  2. I really did enjoy this art post – and felt like I was peeking into the museum with you! You did a fantastic job of being succinct with your words and giving us a nice overview of how long you have enjoyed Dali and the surrealism genre- from teen days to 2019 calendar to even a wall hanging.
    Oh and the surrealist feel to those water photos for so well here
    Especially 💙the pelican one –
    This post dripped and oozed with the surreal vibe from start to end

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I love the way you brought this around to YOUR style. I have loved following you over the past few years and see your photography change. I have loved how you make abstracts with photos now . Well done my friend. Donna

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  4. I’ve visited his museum in Figueres twice. When I sold my house I bought several of his Serigraphs including “Grand Fantasy” and another one I have forgotten the name of. It included a horse and a large rose-colored flower. I sold “Grand Fantasy” when I moved to Mexico but may still have the other one stored away. I have to check when I get home. Thanks for reminding me…

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  6. This explains everything! Well maybe not, but it’s still a great post about your influences and how they’re reflected in your blog. And the pelican is great, just the way it is.

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  9. You’re so fab and so are your photos, Brian. I always enjoy your water abstracts. I look forward to them each week. They do indeed look very surreal or mind altering. Is that the same thing? Thanks for the peek into your Dali fandom. Fascinating. How about that Swan Reflecting Elephants print? I could look at it all day, or quite a lot at the very least.

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  12. Well Brian, I must admit you surprised me with this one. Who knew?!?!? I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Dali’s work altho I did love the one of the mannequin with the tree. Much more so, I completely loved your water abstracts and wouldn’t hesitate to hang any of them on my wall. Superb my friend!

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    1. Thank you Tina 🙂 The painting of his wife and tree was on a wall and too hard to get the whole lot in a photo without peoples heads in the way. It was Jez who started me doing the water reflections abstracts and I have been creating them for a while now. This weeks Water Water Everywhere will be abstracts post number 54 I think 🙂

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  16. I love Dali – and have done so since I was a girl and first saw his “The Temptation of St Anthony.” Wonderful post, Brian. And I love your water abstracts – didn’t know you did those! I don’t follow water water…but now I might! Surreal beauties.

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    1. So happy you like this post Ann-Christine. The Temptation of St Anthony is another favourite too. My water reflection abstracts have been a source of creativity for a while now 🙂 🙂

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