Yesterday we went to see the Salvador Dalí exhibit at the Moderna Museum here in Stockholm. It is my favorite museum in town, not only for the great views from the cafe, but also for the art. The Moderna always seems to be able to push the envelope in regard to putting on comprehensive and exciting shows, much like they did with the Warhol exhibit last year.
This show did a fantastic job of showing how Dalí was truly a master at exploring all sorts of mediums beyond his paint brush and drawing pencil. He appeared as a performance artist on TV, created posters for the French trains, magazine covers for Vogue and countless ads for all sorts of things, including stockings and Alka Seltzer. He worked with Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock.
There is no doubt that Dalí was quite a media savvy dandy, but he could also draw. His finely detailed figure drawings for the Comte de Maldovor’s poetic book were stunning. And I love the description of surrealism that the Comte himself coined: “The chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella.”
Dalí was a pop artist long before Warhol hit the scene and brilliantly created a public vision of himself. And in an interesting twist, the Moderna paired Dalí’s work with contemporary celebrity artist Francesco Vezzoli. The exhibit did a good job of comparing the artists’ works and showing how Dalí used certain objects, including spoons, fried eggs and crutches over and over.
The show is on until January 17th. Check it out if you have the chance: see the Moderna.
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