Salvador Dali at the High

I have enjoyed the works of Salvador Dali for a long time, and have frequently visited the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. When I heard that the High Museum of Art in Atlanta was going to be exhibiting the late works of Dali, I was more than enthusiastic to go.

What I appreciate most about the exhibit is that it gives a "second look" at the Dali's later works, which seem to be under-represented and under-appreciated in the art community at large. Many of his later works are more religiously infused, and also address changes in science at the time (including concepts of particle physics and atomic theory), which for me, is greatly appreciated. I also enjoyed the beginning of the exhibit, which focuses on pictures of Dali presented in an interview format, as well as the incorporation of several film projects Dali was involved in.

Because I attended the museum over the weekend, it was a bit crowded, and less enjoyable than I believe it would have been had not so many people been there; but, I am glad the exhibit is receiving so much attention!

I look forward to going back to the exhibit when there is less of a crowd so that things might have time to "sink in."

"Cytochrome C"

For me, as I suspect it is for many, "art" is difficult to define. Art is, I believe, many things: personal and universal, natural and material, emotive and intellectual, reductionist and holist. It is a form of both having something to say, and listening to what is being said. I believe the canvas (or whatever mode of art you choose) is the interface of where the artist and the receiver find a point in time and space where real communication occurs. For me, art is a representation (not just visual) of the world both around and within us, even if that world is too small, too large, too bizzare or foreign to perceive. I've chosen this image of a painting by Irving Geis to illustrate what art is for me, because I believe it represents many of these things well. Geis' pictoral representation of "Cytochrome C" is a magnificent example of both the universality as well as the personal nature of art. For me, it is a reminder that art is all around us -- even within us at times; and, that it takes not only an artist to create art, but also an audience to receive it.