Embark on a journey through the depths of hell, purgatory and heaven with the new Divina Dalí exhibit from surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dalí in Toronto.
The exhibit, which features over 100 authentic artworks from the renowned artist, opens to the public on Thursday.
The Divina Dalí exhibit is considered to be the most creative total body of work by Salvador Dalí.
Dalí is recognized as one of the most important artists in the 20th century. Though he is mostly known for his surrealist paintings, he is also a sculptor, illustrator, filmmaker, and an accomplished writer. Dalí’s technical skill and precise craftsmanship shines through his body of work.
The National Gallery of Canada says his discovery of Sigmund Freud’s theories and fascination with the subconscious inspired his intense and thought-provoking content.
The Divina Dalí exhibit invites visitors to a multi-sensory experience of Italian writer Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy,” known as one of the greatest literary works of all time. It includes 110 original pieces by Dalí and displays works through different mediums such as ink, water colour, sculpture and illustration.
Divina Dalí is an immersive experience into Dante Alighieri’s poetic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, through the lens of Salvador Dalí.
Visitors will be taken on an adventure full of saturated colours and images in Dalí’s poetic reimagination of the three worlds: hell, purgatory and heaven. The exhibit is the result of the marriage between Dalí and Dante and how their virtuosities elegantly collide. Divina Dalí is also considered to be the most creative total body of work by Salvador Dalí.
The “hell” or “Inferno” area of the Divina Dalí exhibit in Brookfield Place.
Curator, Raynald Michaud, spoke to Now Toronto about the symbolic imagery he believes this exhibit invokes.
“The exhibit is a humanist approach to life because Inferno corresponds to your youngness and because you ask questions to yourself,” Michaud said.
When you’re in the “heaven” area within the experience, Michaud says you learn that “paradise is an accomplishment. It’s not a space with angels and everything. You’re getting older, and you live with your choice. It’s what you will see. And because it’s also love, love in art is meaning.”
The Divina Dalí exhibit is located at 181 Bay St., in Brookfield Place. Fun fact: the building is designed by fellow Spaniard, Santiago Calatrava, a modernist architect who also enjoyed the arts in Spain.
Michaud says this is a unique opportunity for visitors and art connoisseurs because there are very few Dalí exhibits worldwide.
Tickets are available on their website at $33.50 for general admission. Discounts are offered for students and for groups of eight or more. Tickets can also be purchased at the box office 30 minutes before opening up until an hour before closing time.
The experience lasts 90 minutes and runs until December 17.
