MEDI 323: Surrealism + Dali

My 'Dreamscapes' project has a very heavy influence of surrealism and one can't mention it without thinking of Dali.

I remember being in my early teens and seeing 'The Persistance of Memory' its one of those moments when you stop and just look and get completely lost in the image. I looked at it for so long I was late for class and came back to look again at break. It moved me deeply, I find this way to look at things delicious!

Maybe it appeals to my escapist, fantasy loving nature or maybe it appeals because it is so close to reality.

Surreal Definition: 
sur·re·al 

adj.

1. Having qualities attributed to or associated with surrealism: "Even with most facilities shut down ... a few mavericks managed to slip into the park to sample the almost surreal emptiness before the shutdown ended." (Peter H. King).

2. Having an oddly dreamlike quality.

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As a style it is said to be "a style in which fantastical visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the work logically comprehensible.

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Max Ernst is another notable surrealist. I really love 'Ubu Imperator' I like this one in particular because I feel it has an incredible humor to it. The great thing about it is that the viewer can see familiar aspects and shapes and almost make sense of it. To me the almost other worldly animal qualities it displays are delightful! (I see a bird type creature)

The Movement:
Surrealism was a 20th century art movement which focused on depicting the very bizarre and strange things which one would never encounter in real life, focusing on dreams and hallucinations rather than nature.
Surrealism is generally considered to have started with the play Les Mamelles de Tiresias by Giullaume Apollinaire and Dali's paintings are among the most famous works characteristic of the surrealistic style.

Anouther Picure that I really like is one by Christian Bouqueret:

I love how freakish it is. I believe this is almost Gothic Surrealism of which I am a huge fan.