A SO CALLED GENIUS AND REBELS
This morning I spent an hour or more going through all the paintings which I could find on Internet by Salvador Dali. As you can imagine there is a plethora and it confirmed my reactions to the exhibition I saw earlier in this week - but it also helped me to go a little further.
His surrealist period has always been too much for me. I get a little tired of the repeated symbols and in a retrospective such as this with probably most of the paintings dedicated to the surrealistic period which began in the late 30’s. It is a little overpowering. Not apparently for the public who "ummed and ahhed" in front of many of the paintings we know so well, pointing out to one another the reasoning behind each symbol. I somehow can’t be bothered. Yet I did discover that a some of his work caught my attention - certainly not the big paintings but the smaller ones and a sculpture which I did appreciate.
Suddenly in the 60’s his work became much more abstract - not all of it by any manner of means, but a lot and if there had been more paintings to look at like this, then I would have revised my feelings on Dali. Which I did when I discovered how many he had painted. For me it was a shame that there weren’t more.
Agitator, fou, mystique, genius? I don’t know. But as Anne had commented to me after she had seen it, it’s worthwhile taking a look.
The Abdel Abdessemed cannot be escaped because of this enormous sculpture outside of the Beaubourg. It is, apparently, the famous kick that Zidane our footballer gave to another player during the world cup in 2008. It is not appreciated by everyone.
He is Algerian living in Paris and working within a wide range of media (drawing, video, photography, performance, and installation), Abdessemed transforms everyday materials and images into unexpected, charged, and sometimes shocking artistic declarations. The only thing I liked was this.
To finish the week, Laurent and I went to see «25 years of creation» at the Arab Institute. Everything is a statement and although we have enjoyed other exhibitions in the centre, we did not really like this. Except of course for the elephant statue outside.
His surrealist period has always been too much for me. I get a little tired of the repeated symbols and in a retrospective such as this with probably most of the paintings dedicated to the surrealistic period which began in the late 30’s. It is a little overpowering. Not apparently for the public who "ummed and ahhed" in front of many of the paintings we know so well, pointing out to one another the reasoning behind each symbol. I somehow can’t be bothered. Yet I did discover that a some of his work caught my attention - certainly not the big paintings but the smaller ones and a sculpture which I did appreciate.
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| Imagie mediumnique-paranmique vers 1934 |
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| Transformation d'une peinture anonyme du 16ème |
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| Autoportrait 1972 |
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| Spectre d'Angelus 1934 |
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| Flames, They call 1942 |
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| Architecture surealiste 1932 |
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| Vestige atavique après la pluie |
Suddenly in the 60’s his work became much more abstract - not all of it by any manner of means, but a lot and if there had been more paintings to look at like this, then I would have revised my feelings on Dali. Which I did when I discovered how many he had painted. For me it was a shame that there weren’t more.
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| homage-to-meirronier. 1965 |
The Abdel Abdessemed cannot be escaped because of this enormous sculpture outside of the Beaubourg. It is, apparently, the famous kick that Zidane our footballer gave to another player during the world cup in 2008. It is not appreciated by everyone.
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| World cup 2008 |
He is Algerian living in Paris and working within a wide range of media (drawing, video, photography, performance, and installation), Abdessemed transforms everyday materials and images into unexpected, charged, and sometimes shocking artistic declarations. The only thing I liked was this.
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| Adel Abdessemed |
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| 25 years of Arab Creation - elephant sculpture |
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