Seminal surrealist artist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) and founding member of the DADA movement Hans Arp (1886-1966) shared the same sense of the uncanny and enigmatic humor. Both artists developed their own idiosyncratic visual language in Paris' surrealist milieu, creating symbolically-charged correspondences between the human figure and everyday objects.
This is the first large-scale exhibition to reveal their surprising closeness and underscore the parallels in their works: from formal vocabulary to reinterpretation of objects, to use of the human body. Arp's soft flowing ovals often appear as if arisen directly from a Dalí painting. Dalí's surreal, often seemingly oppressive pictorial worlds take on a new dimension and lightness when juxtaposed with Hans Arp's playful poetry. Through this dialogue with one of Surrealism's most prominent champions, this show proves the decisive extent of Arp's influence.
"Let's leave Picasso aside. We should come to a better understanding with Arp, who provides for us a huge range of realizations with an almost imperceptible naturalness". Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí, Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening, (1944) Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
