Being a habitue of IFC, I usually notice if there's something out-of-the-ordinary in the vicinity. Today, there was something new in the area, something scarily new:
Yup, there was a huge and eerie statue at the front of Two Exchange Square. It looked like a reject from the Hell Raiser movie, and upon closer scrutiny, everything became clear. This statue was the work of the master of the macabre, the sultan of surrealism - Salvador Dali.
I was first exposed to the work of Dali by a cousin who was also a surrealist painter. It started with me asking him why all his subjects were distorted, and he explained the history of the style and the artist who inspired him. This resulted in a sudden interest in surrealism as an artform, and soon after, I dabbled in surreal art as well. But since I was very young then, my fascination waned, but my appreciation of Dali's darkness remained. And if you look at the details of this particular sculpture - entitled "Woman Aflame" - you see how dark he was.
The sudden presence of Dali's sculptures at Central is courtesy of an exhibit of his work that coincides with a charity event. His work, along with some other famous - and dead - artists, are strewn all over the area. I'm not sure how many there are, because I only saw two. First was "Woman Aflame" and second is this:
Though not as disturbing as the first one, this piece of steel is still a bit different. Interestingly, it has Dali's "Melting Watch" by the woman's neck. There was also and egg over her dismembered waist, and an ant crawling somewhere around her torso. If I were to give a title to this piece, i'd call it: "Chicken Lays an Egg on a hot & sweet Manananggal." It's a bit long for a title, but at least, every bit of the sculpture is acknowledged.
It's a weird title, I know. But then again, Dali's work is weird anyway.
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