Hello Dali!!!

by
Rick Brown

I’ve always admired the work of sublime surrealist Salvador Dali. Not that I’d display most of his art in my home. Dali’s spectrum of artistic subject ranges from nuanced to spectacular … garish, implicitly violent on occasion … to religiously moving. He is arguably the most famous … almost omnipresent at times … surrealistic artist ever. I have enjoyed the bulk of his work … first as a private collection … viewed by appointment … on Cleveland’s East Side. Then again on several visits to St. Petersburg, Florida after his beautiful museum opened in the early 1980s. His art is breathtaking … in the proper setting.

So, once I learned Sarasota’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was featuring Salvador Dali for a special exhibit in 2020, I was curious almost to the point of trepidation. Exactly how random eyeballs … hanging pianos … crutches assisting moustaches … etc. … would work in a subtropical setting … piqued my interest severely.

The folks at Selby have put on several exhibitions over the past few years … from Paul Gauguin to Andy Warhol. While a stroll through the gorgeous gardens on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico enhances all art … I believe the results were mixed. This time around however, Selby Gardens hits a home run with Salvador Dali: Gardens of the Mind. (If I had a painting of Irony Melting on Top of a Flying Piano I’d insert it here.)

The entire exhibit works because … while sincerely respectful of Dali’s work, life and contributions … the display exudes a playfulness that is both intimate and inclusive. Consequently … even the novice … hell even the most clueless tourist … can enjoy their surroundings immensely … alongside the most discriminating art snob. Bringing this seemingly contradictory collection together … again melting irony … are several lithographs of botanical plants titled Flordali … on loan from the St. Pete museum. Also included are prints from a private collector that have NEVER been displayed publicly. Together they are a wonderful culmination of an afternoon spent in a beautiful botanical nirvana … natural … playfully surreal … and satisfying.

Salvador Dali: Gardens of the Mind runs at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida through June 28, 2020. For more information please go to:

https//www.selby.org/