...liquid desire

...and I'm not talking about beer.


I went to see the Dali-Liquid Desire show at the NGV last night.

It was thoroughly enjoyable and informative. I was never much of a Dali fan, but I am now... or I at least have a new appreciation for his work. Most of his paintings are on the small side, but they're extremely detailed. What I and many others at the show were most surprised at was his jewellry, which was superb. And his photography was very good too.

They say there's a fine line between genius and insanity, and I think that applies to Dali. George Orwell summed it up well when he said "One ought to be able to hold in one's head simultaneously the two facts that Dalí is a good draughtsman and a disgusting human being. The one does not invalidate or, in a sense, affect the other." Orwell was suspicious of Dali's love of excess and questionable allegiances to Franco and other mid-20th century European tyrants. To this day, avant garde artists are generally expected be pinkos. I reckon its a shame when politics and art mingle, though it's inevitable.

Art + Politics = Propaganda

.