If you aren’t familiar with surrealism, it is described by Wikipedia as a “cultural movement that began in the early 1920’s and is best known for its visual artworks and writings.” So, why does this matter and what is surrealism a reaction against? At its most basic surrealism is art that stems from imagination, allowing artists to express their emotions rather than creating art from rational thought. In the 20th century those in the art and literary realm experienced what they viewed as destruction brought about by politics and European culture which was thought to be driven by rationalism, and ultimately resulted in the horrors of World War I. In essence, perhaps surrealistic art was an “escape” of sorts for those who preferred to focus on their emotions in what must have been a very difficult time period.

Could the subconscious mind work to establish a reality?

While there were many artists during the period, Salvador Dali (also known as Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali Domenech) was a Spanish surrealist printmaker and painter who could do something not every artist can accomplish, which is to bring about images from the subconscious mind. Using a process Dali coined “paranoiac critical,” the early 20th century artist induced hallucinatory states in himself in an effort to demonstrate how the subconscious mind could work to establish a reality considered at the time to be more influential than reason.

Influenced by Renaissance Painter Raphael

Considered the most recognized surrealist artist in the world during the period from 1929 to 1937 Dali offered a “mature” painting style that while realistic and meticulous in detail was often considered irrational and bizarre, revealing a dream world in which ordinary objects were deformed, juxtaposed, or in the eyes of many simply odd or strange. It was during the late 1930s that Dali was ousted from the surrealist movement after he began creating his art in a style that was academic and influenced by Renaissance painter Raphael.

He claimed to be the “most big genius of modern time”!

Spending a large portion of his life creating controversy, sensation, and otherwise shocking the world, Dali often left art lovers wondering whether he was actually a genius or a madman. While Dali died at the age of 84 just 28 years ago, he claimed to be the “most big genius of modern time” when compared to other contemporary painters in 1960. In the U.S. many feel that Dali was better known among artists of the 20th century than Pablo Picasso. In addition to stirring up controversy, Dali was said to have been equally as passionate about money and publicity, at one time endorsing products on TV commercials for both American and French companies.

More posts on Dali

Figure at the Window – besides getting revenge with his sister, what does this painting mean?
Dali – Genius or a Madman?

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Dali certainly had his own unique style, however he was also a skilled classical painter.

Is This Dali? The Woman at the Window
In this painting Figure at the Window and sometimes referred to as Girl at the Window, at first glance it does not seem like a Dali painting. The figurative approach has a classical realism feel and an Andrew Wyeth style of American realist expressed with Monochromatic colors. The window with its stark contrasts and lonely figure all play into American realism.

What was Dali thinking? What does this painting mean?
Figure at the Window is a painting of a dark-haired woman standing and leaning against a window seal as she is looking out an open window to a bay. The landscape behind the window is the bay of Cadaqués, where Dali used to stay in the summer. The focal point of the picture is on the back of the woman, not what she is looking at. Her dress is minimized and chaste. Simple, non-assuming and relaxed. The window seems larger than life and takes up more than half the painting.

This woman is Ana Maria his sister three years younger with whom he was close with, particularly after the death of their mother. Ana Maria was his only female model until Gala replaced her in 1929.

“At that time my brother painted countless portraits of me. Many of them were simply studies of hair and a bared shoulder”.

However the closeness did not last! Dali got mad and retribution followed.

True Dali Style

Dali had a sort of falling out with his sister who wrote an autobiography in 1949 that portrayed a very different view of Dali to the one he had carefully constructed in his autobiographies; this led to the collapse of their relationship.

As revenge it is said that he painted a another version of this Figure at a Window in 1954 and called it Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized by the Horns of Her Own Chastity.

The painting is in stark opposite to Woman at the Window which is seen as chaste, neutral and non assuming. The painting above ‘looks’ like an explicit Dali painting. Interesting are the windows in each painting. The figure above overwhelms the window while the classical window overwhelms the figure in proportion.

This particular painting was formerly in the collection of The Playboy Mansion and was sold in 2003 for 1.35 million pounds.

In 1958, Dalí wrote, “Paradoxically, this painting, which has an erotic appearance, is the most chaste of all.”

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Style: African American art/ surrealism/visionary – Oil on canvas/wood

The subject matter of my work originates from the same place most artist creative endeavors bubble up from. In many of my pieces, I am led to wrestle with certain
perceptions adopted in my past, but also a variety of ideas about the future. Painting has always been about aligning myself with what seems to come natural to me. The philosopher and scholar Joseph Campbell sums it up this way:

“Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.” — Joseph Campbell

My aim is to effectively communicate this idea to the viewer. With that being said, I am not particularly creative as an individual, rather there is a field of creativity that exist independently, all on it’s own. All we can do as artist is tap into it.

I began painting in the German-town section of Philadelphia, PA in 2006. With more than 2,800 murals, Philly boasts more impressive large scale public paintings than any other city in the world. Living and interacting with the people of that community for over four years heavily impacted my visual style.

I am a ferociously quick study and I have always had a passion for understanding the true nature of things. This type of insight is the driving element behind my work. I use oil paint primarily although I dabble in some mixed media and photography. I like the feeling of maneuvering the thick, pungent, colors over the canvas – which is something I have so far found exclusive to oil paint. Using a wide variety of rich colors, I attempt to communicate the typically over-looked meanings underneath sometimes very simple images. I am six-foot seven inches tall so I appreciate working on a large canvas. I also enjoy working quickly with large brushes. The intent of most of my subject matter is to suggest that the viewer seek the true meaning(s) of life…within.

Primarily self-taught, I like to say that I graduated from the prestigious university of blood, sweat, and tears!

The focus of my studies have always been on communicating ideas that challenge people to be curious about their own internal nature. My major visual influences are Salvador Dali, Alex Gray, Remedios Varo, and Jean Michel Basquiat. Fame and fortune have eluded countless great artist so my concentration has never been on either.
I simply love to create! I feel like this is what I have been put here to do. I would like for people to see themselves in my paintings. They are as much about you as they are about me.

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