A red lip-shaped sofa, a piano supported by human legs, flaccid clocks and the Space Elephant: Welcome to the unimaginable world made by Spanish surrealism master Salvador Dali. After traveling through 48 cities in 17 countries since 1984, these precious artworks have come to Shenzhen for the first time for their 94th stop.
Sculpture “Noble Time” outside MixC Shenzhen Bay. Photos by Lin Songtao.
Officially authorized by the Dali Paris Museum, citizens will have a chance to view nearly 200 artworks in several media at once, ranging from sculptures, paintings and surreal furniture to colored glass and gold exhibits. The exhibition is divided into four sections: “Forever Memories,” “Eye of Dali,” “Wander in Space” and “Noble Time.”
“Mae West Lips Sofa.”
The “Eye of Dali” section mainly exhibits furniture, sculptures and paintings, the famous “Mae West Lips Sofa” among the highlights. In this work, Dali reversed his usual paranoiac-critical method of attempting to see images within objects. Here, he instead began his conception in 1936 with an actual image of Mae West’s sensual lips, then created a functional object based on it in 1974. There’s also an accompanying creative video playing beside the sofa showing the two “lip clouds” combining into one with the sun at the center of the mouth.
A woman with a long neck appears in the third section: “Wander in Space.” Named “Vénus à la Girafe” (“Giraffe Venus”), it shows Venus ornamented with an opened drawer that protrudes disproportionately from her body. However, this paradoxically gives the sculpture a classical equilibrium, creating an air of balance and harmony.
Besides the various eye-catching artworks, a public course will offer interactive lessons for children, and events like irregular art lectures and concerts where attendees can create artworks of their own will also be organized.
Dali (1904-1989) is a renowned Catalan-Spanish artist known for his extraordinary talent and imagination in surrealist works filled by surprisingly dreamlike images influenced by the Renaissance masters. He is called one of the representative painters in the 20th century with Picasso and Matisse.
Scan the QR code to buy tickets:
Dates: Until Feb. 16, 2020
Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. (Sun.-Thur.), 10 a.m.-10.30 p.m. (Fri.-Sat.) (Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time.)
Tickets: 138 yuan per adult single-pass ticket for weekdays only; 168 yuan per adult single-pass everyday ticket; 128 yuan per student or child single-pass ticket; 668 yuan for unlimited entries for two adults together
Venue: 1/F, MixC Shenzhen Bay, Nanshan District (南山区深圳湾万象城L1层)
Metro: Line 2 or 11 to Houhai Station (后海站), Exit G
