Back to the Books

After a break from blogging of 2 weeks, I've recently finished my latest round of reporting - completing over 200 reports and the marking and comments that accompany all that, along with the writing, checking and editing - so I now find myself retuning to some books that have been on hold and make mention of some that have vanished off the shelf and have been replaced by others.

I finished reading the Thames and Hudson Dali, a small paperback version which proved to be a major disappointment.  Initially it read well, with good background info on Dali's childhood and student days, but quickly descended into a laborious series of quotes from letters and journals with little insight into the artist's sense of vision. Illustrations were good and included some I had not seen before, but the book very quickly glossed over the last 40 years of Dali's life and I could not recommend it.

I've replaced it with a recently purchased version of Taschen's Dali which seems to have greater integrity and I hold out more hope from it. The Taschen series have been excellent with the ones I have purchased and although only $20-$25, they offer great value. If its anything like the Taschen book on Rothko I read last year, I'll be more than pleased.

Of course, now the administrative side of teaching is out of the way (more or less) I'm hoping to relax with some reading that provides pure entertainment... so who could be better than the Grand Master of the crime caper, Donald E Westlake?

Watch Your Back has been sitting on my shelf for about a year and this week I've dusted off the cover and started on the latest John Dortmunder crime caper. All the old friends are there and Westlake's writing has improved with age. It's a great shame he is no longer with us, but he has left behind a wonderful body of work under his own name as well as the Parker series under his pseudonym Richard Stark. I read Westlake for two things only : great plots and laughs. This one is shaping up quite nicely and all going well I should polish it off in the next few days. Keep your eye on the blog for a fuller review.

Burn brightly, Pete.

Salvador Dali: Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man (1943)

Salvador Dali: Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach (1938)

Salvador Dali: The Enigma of Desire - My Mother,My Mother,My Mother. (1929)

Philippe Halsman: Dali Atomicus (1948)

Salvador Dali: Three Sphinxes of Bikini (1947)

Between the years of 1946 and 1958 (after world war two), the United States conducted 23 nuclear tests at the Micronesian atoll, Bikini. The tests caused the radioactive contamination of the entire system of islands. The (almost) two hundred Micronesians who inhabited the islands were relocated by the US before the tests, and eventually brought back in 1968 (!). The US lost a lawsuit to the Micronesians in the amount of $100 million when it was discovered, ten years later in 1978, that the levels of radioactivity were still dangerously high.

Salvador Dali - Surrealist

These experimental explosions on the atoll of Bikini inspired Dali to paint the Three Sphinxes with their mushroom cloud-like appearance. Dali is considered the greatest of all the surrealist painters. If you look at the point of view of “expressionism,” then paintings in general are supposed to emphasise the expression of inner experience and/or emotion rather than a solely “photographic” portrayal or observational view of reality. It is subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in the artist that concerned the Expressionist artists.

In surrealism, this goes one step further: it’s the unconscious that is emphasised, and paintings express the workings of the mind, the unconscious, memories and dream states by using symbolic imagery and interesting juxtaposition of subject matter.

Burn brightly, Pete

Salvador Dali: The Persistence of Memory (1931)

Salvador Dali: Allegorie de Soie (1950)

Quote of the Day

"Have no fear of perfection 

 - you'll never reach it."

               – Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali: Baby Map of the World (1939)

The Last Dali

The final painting by the surrealist master has no evidence of his usual images of his beloved Gala and suggestively warped realities. Surrealist superstar Salvador Dalí's last series of paintings were enamoured with a different muse — dynamic mathematics. Dalí’s very last painting The Swallow’s Tail (1983),  contemplated the catastrophe theory dealing with unpredictable sudden changes within mathematical equations.

Burn brightly, Pete

Dream-like Day

Bill Robinson at QUT Gallery

Yesterday was quite surreal in a number of ways - great weather, wonderful company, unique artworks. I spent most of my day in art galleries - viewing the current Surrealism exhibition in Brisbane and the 2010 Minister's Awards for Creative Excellence before heading on to the QUT galleries to look at the works of William Robinson, my college painting instructor.

His work in particular was exceptional - the works of a master infused with life, colour, humour and personality - all aglow on large canvasses which capture Qld's unique landscapes as well as delicate oils and gouaches taking us into his intimate world of interior settings as we're invited into Bill's homelife. For me, these works were richer than the surreal offerings at GoMA and although I know I was standing in front of some of the great works of Man Ray, Magritte, Giacometti and de Chirico - all personal heroes - Bill's works still left me astounded at what is possible with paint when in the hands of a master.

Man Ray - Prayer

The Surrealist show was definitely worth seeing due to the magnitude of the works on loan and the opportunity to see the works up close. Surprises for me were the small scale of Man Ray's photographs (particularly The Prayer); the application of paint by Magritte and the lack of detail in some of his works;  Magritte's overuse and underuse of varnish in various works; The violence of some of the  early surrealists and their fascination with homicide; and overall the lack of colour and the darkness of the pieces. With so much black and white photography and large screening of early surrealist films, one would expect a degree of darkness, but I was surprised by the overall browns and blacks and limited colour use. I suppose I shouldn't be given the movement's development out of Dadaism and the period following WWI. Standouts were Max Ernst's early pieces with almost fluroscent use of paint.



A crisp morning, strong sunlight and a pleasurable day viewing paintings. What better way to spend the day in my house of worship? Not recommended for everyone and there is intensive reading for those who have several hours to spend - it is quite a serious exhibition presenting the development of the Surrealist manifesto and early publications of literature and graphics - but worthwhile to give you a good overview and the opportunity of seeing some great works. I'll be heading back for a second longer look in the next few weeks.

Burn brightly, Pete.

Quote of the Day

"Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision." 

                                                          — Salvador Dalí

Surrealism is Coming!....

Salvadore Dali & Friend

Burn brightly, Pete

Quote of the Day

"There are some days when I think I'm going to die from an overdose of satisfaction."

                                  

- Salvador Dali