Dali in Singapore

The Dali in Singapore exhibition, showcases S$20 million worth of the Surrealist's works, opened on 13th September and runs until October 14. 10 monumental sculptures by Spanish artist Salvador Dali, there is a unicorn, a piano with legs, an armless female torso and melting watches.....etc.

Those who do not want to imitate anything,
produce nothing.
Dali

Space Elephant - This creature is a symbol of the earthy temptations of power. (US$1.7m)

Surrealist Piano - A naked woman dances on piano with human legs wearing high heeled shoes. (US$550,000)
Horse Saddled With Time - A rearing horse with Dali's signature melting watch. (US$550,000)
Unicorn - This sculpture depicts a unicorn tamed by a virgin. (US$480,000)

Have no fear of perfection.
You'll never reach it.

Dali

Homage To Newton - United Overseas Bank owns this bronze sculpture. The figure, with its heart suspended within its open torso, is a fixture at UOB Plaza.

Space Venus - The armless female form has a melting watch sliding down her neck & a golden egg on her pelvis. (US$1.7m)
Profile Of Time - The melting watch is one of Dali's most famous images. (US$1.3m)



You have to systematically create confusion.
It sets creativity free.
Dali


Dali's life

May 11,1904: Salvador Felipe Jacinto i Domenech is born in Figueres, Spain.

1921: Dali's mother dies of cancer when he is 16. His father marries his wife's sister.

1922: Dali attends the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. There he befriends film-maker Luis Bunuel & poet Federico Garcia Lorca.

1929: He collaborates with Bunuel on a 16-minute film, Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog), which has no plot. It features a man slitting a woman's eye with a razor. He joins the Surrealist movement, which sought to transcends everyday reality by tapping into the unconscious mind.

1933: He stages his first solo exhibition at Galerie Pierre Colle in Paris, where he exhibits his famous work, The Persistence of Memory. It depicts melting clocks on a Catalonian landscape.

1934: Dali marries his muse, Gala, who is 11 years his senior in a civil ceremony.

1939: He takes part in the World's Fair of New York, designing the Dream of Venus pavilion. The Metropolitan Opera of New York stages the ballet Bacchanale, with libretto, costumes & sets by Dali.

1940-48: Dali & Gala set up home in the US. He designs jewellery, publishes his autobiography, works with Alfred Hitchhock on the movie Spellbound & decorates the apartment of cosmetics diva Helena Rubinstein. New York's Museum of Modern Art devotes a retrospective to Dali in 1941.

1969: He designs the Chupa Chups logo for the Spanish lollipop company.

1974: The Dali-Theatre Museum opens in the artist's hometown of Figureres, Spain.

1982: The Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida opens, housing a huge private collection of the artist's works. Gala dies on June 10.

1989: Dali dies of heart failure at the age of 84 in Spain. He is buried in a crypt under the dome in the Dali-Theatre Museum.

researched by Clara Chow, SPH