Book description
Salvador Dali is one of the most widely recognised and most
controversial artists of the twentieth century. He was also an
avant-garde filmmaker -- collaborating with such giants as Luis
Bunuel, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock -- though the impetus and
endurance of his fascination with film has rarely been given the
attention it merits. King surveys the full range of Dali's eccentric
activities with(in) the cinema. Influenced by the Marx Brothers,
Buster Keaton and Stanley Kubrick, Dali used the cinema to bring the
'dream subjects' of his paintings to life, providing the groundwork
for revolutionary forays into television, video, photography and
holography. Dali's writings continue to be relevant to discourses
surrounding film and surrealism, and his embrace of academic technique
partnered with contemporary technology and pop culture is a paradox
still relevant today. From a movie-going experience that would
incorporate all five senses to the tale of a woman's hapless love
affair with a wheelbarrow, Dali's hallucinatory vision never fails to
leave its indelible mark.
Elliott H. King is an art historian specialising in Dalí and
surrealism. He contributed to Dalí, The Centenary Exhibition (Thames and
Hudson, 2004) and is active with the 2007-08 exhibition, Dalí and Film.