Salvador Dali
It's simply excited to realize that a great mind and a true experimentalist from the past was vastly governed by thoughts on the very same subject matter that carries forth my imagination too much too often. Before watching a BBC documentary, titled 'Modern Masters', I had never really known about Salvador Dali except having had trivial knowledge on his Mae West Lips Sofa as a pretentious remark for a piece of sentimental writing in my early twenties. Though his life-long themes - sexuality, religion, dreams and fantasy - have come alive with the form of avant-garde manifestos, however, his works are certainly more than just shock value. To me the way it challenges a sense of discomfort yet still is intellectually intriguing is quite like playing favorite brain-consuming games. Psychological puzzles! Philosophical riddles!Illusional battles! All kinds of mind-blowing creativities are showcased in his paintings. When solved these manipulations, I knew appreciating Dali is about seeing a bigger picture in the state of self-realization.
Lovely. It's after all my most interest.
Some of his works are evidently grotesque. I wouldn't personally hang one on my wall. Randomly I have my own speculation that Ito Junji must be a fan of Dali's works even though unlike Dali the great mind, Mr. Junji's visual presentations seem to much lack in delivering a sophisticated version of emotional terrorism. While Ito's works are often too scandalous for my taste (after all, he's a manga artist), Dali's works wonderfully succeed in creating my genuine fear of "losing the self". His surreal images mesmerize me by triggering intense emotions I always feel as I have ominous dreams in which I want to wake up right from the gecko but keep sinking into a deep sleep only making untimely jerks. This absolute sense of helplessness is the successful achievement of a great story-telling of Dali.
I also love his witty rendering of unconscious memory with whimsical touches on eroticism that far out tickles my imagination. Dali must have had loads of fun seeing creative presentations of his alter ego. Not everybody has a wet panties-worthy, totally psychedelic dream. Last night I dreamed of dealing with marital affairs. That's lame!Salvador Dali has fast become one of my favorite artists.
