Sacchiridites
02-19-2005, 02:32 AM
I have not really been a fan of Dali. Now I finally know what it was that bugged me about him, er, I mean his works. I mean, it took so much out of me to just take in a coffee table book of his works-so twisted. But, that's surrealism for me. Heavy stuff.
When I took a listen at this interview: http://www.whyy.org/news/artsandculture.html
I heard some of the same cliche descriptions I hear about all artists... "30 years before his time" and blah, blah. In the radio article I heard Dali speak for probably about the fourth time in my life. Again, it was all about him, his personality, his art reflected HIM. I found out that what I didn't like was how he shamelessly self-promoted himself, not his work, not how it reflected this or that to benefit society or capture an event of mankind, although his works have been interpreted to reflect and change with the times.
Personally, I like his writing and films more than I liked his painting. Even his photography is at best, surreal. At least I find humor in his quotes, and not dark self-hatred that I seem to see in his paintings. Here are a few of his quotes:
Salvador Dali:
"The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad."
"The only difference between me and the Surrealists is that I am a Surrealist"
"At the age of six years I wanted to be a chef. At the age of seven I wanted to be Napoleon. My ambitions have continued to grow at the same rate ever since."
"Every morning when I awake, the greatest of joys is mine: that of being Salvador Dalí."
"I tried sex once with a woman and that woman was Gala. It was overrated. I tried sex once with a man and that man was the famous juggler Federico Garcia Lorca [the Spanish Surrealist poet]. It was very painful."
As you can read, he is quite self-absorbed. Is it a prerequisite of artists to be so completely self-absorbed? Is this what really makes art....art?
When I took a listen at this interview: http://www.whyy.org/news/artsandculture.html
I heard some of the same cliche descriptions I hear about all artists... "30 years before his time" and blah, blah. In the radio article I heard Dali speak for probably about the fourth time in my life. Again, it was all about him, his personality, his art reflected HIM. I found out that what I didn't like was how he shamelessly self-promoted himself, not his work, not how it reflected this or that to benefit society or capture an event of mankind, although his works have been interpreted to reflect and change with the times.
Personally, I like his writing and films more than I liked his painting. Even his photography is at best, surreal. At least I find humor in his quotes, and not dark self-hatred that I seem to see in his paintings. Here are a few of his quotes:
Salvador Dali:
"The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad."
"The only difference between me and the Surrealists is that I am a Surrealist"
"At the age of six years I wanted to be a chef. At the age of seven I wanted to be Napoleon. My ambitions have continued to grow at the same rate ever since."
"Every morning when I awake, the greatest of joys is mine: that of being Salvador Dalí."
"I tried sex once with a woman and that woman was Gala. It was overrated. I tried sex once with a man and that man was the famous juggler Federico Garcia Lorca [the Spanish Surrealist poet]. It was very painful."
As you can read, he is quite self-absorbed. Is it a prerequisite of artists to be so completely self-absorbed? Is this what really makes art....art?