Dali Universe

The Dalí Universe is a permanent retrospective of Salvador Dalí, the greatest surrealist, self-publicist and creative genius of the twentieth century. The Dalí Universe transports visitors into a fascinating world of melting clocks and anthropomorphic sculpture. Presented in a dreamlike labyrinth of galleries the Dalí Universe places visitors in the heart of a surreal fantasyland.

Dalí Universe was a permanent exhibition of art works by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí which was housed in a 3,000 square metre (32,000 square feet) suite of galleries at County Hall in London, England. It opened in 2000 and closed in January 2010.

It intends to re-open at a different location later in 2010. Over 500 works were on display, including sculptures dating from 1935–1984, drawings, lithographs, gold and glass objects and a Dalí-inspired furniture collection. It did not feature major paintings except for a huge oil on canvas from Alfred Hitchcock film Spellbound (1945 film). The exhibition was originally curated by Beniamino Levi, who worked with Dalí on the development of his sculptures.

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989) was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres. He was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work.

His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931. Dali’s expansive artistic repertoire includes film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.

Dalí was highly imaginative, and also had an affinity for partaking in unusual and grandiose behaviour, in order to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork.

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Contact details for the Dali Universe email: [email protected]

THE DALI UNIVERSE IS CURRENTLY CLOSED AND FINDING NEW PREMISES, IT IS DUE TO REOPEN IN 2010.

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