Salvador Dalí is one of the most widely recognised and most controversial artists of the twentieth century. He was also an avant-garde filmmaker – collaborating with such giants as Luis Buñuel, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock – though the impetus and endurance of his fascination with film has rarely been given the attention it merits.

King surveys the full range of Dalí’s eccentric activities with(in) the cinema. Influenced by the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton and Stanley Kubrick, Dalí used the cinema to bring the ‘dream subjects’ of his paintings to life, providing the groundwork for revolutionary forays into television, video, photography and holography. Dalí’s writings continue to be relevant to discourses surrounding film and surrealism, and his embrace of academic technique partnered with contemporary technology and pop culture is a paradox still relevant today.

From a movie-going experience that would incorporate all five senses to the tale of a woman’s hapless love affair with a wheelbarrow, Dalí’s hallucinatory vision never fails to leave its indelible mark.

'Dalí and Film' exhibitions are showing at:

• The Salvador Dali Museum St. Petersburg in Florida on 8th February (the author will be at the opening) - tickets for the opening event are available now through their website: more info>>
• At MOMA in New York around 20th June - more info >>

Elliott H. King is an art historian specialising in Dalí and surrealism. He contributed to Dalí, The Centenary Exhibition (Thames and Hudson, 2004) and is active with the 2007-08 exhibition, Dalí and Film.