{"id":32756,"date":"2019-06-14T03:53:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T10:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32756"},"modified":"2019-06-12T11:31:07","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T18:31:07","slug":"dali-artwork-on-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/06\/14\/dali-artwork-on-display\/","title":{"rendered":"Dali artwork on display"},"content":{"rendered":"

Left to right: Oree Gianacopoulos, Chali-Rosso Gallery director; James Sanders from Dali Universe (Switzerland); and Susanna Strem, president of Chali-Rosso Gallery. (photo by Shula Klinger)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

May 17 and 18 saw the unveiling of two sculptures by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, which will be on display until September. The sculptures were brought to Vancouver by the Chali-Rosso Gallery on Howe Street, the site of the annual Definitely Dali exhibition. More than 100 Dali originals are on display at the gallery, along with 20 smaller versions of Dali\u2019s bronzes.<\/p>\n

On May 17, \u201cDalinian Dancer\u201d was revealed at the corner of Thurlow and Alberni. \u201cSpace Venus\u201d was unveiled on the next day at Lot 19, on West Hastings at Hornby. The unveilings were accompanied by flamenco music, which Dali loved.<\/p>\n

Oree Gianacopoulous, Chali-Rosso\u2019s director, spoke before the unveiling of \u201cSpace Venus.\u201d Describing it as one of Dali\u2019s \u201ciconic\u201d pieces, she expressed her gratitude to Beniamino Levi, director of Dali Universe, the foundation that lends out the artwork. Levi worked with Dali himself to develop the collection of 29 sculptures.<\/p>\n

This is the third year that Dali sculptures have traveled to Vancouver, under the leadership of Chali-Rosso president Susanna Strem, a member of the Jewish community. Working in close collaboration with Dali Universe in Europe, which loaned the sculptures to Chali-Rosso, Strem\u2019s initiative has helped establish a new cultural tradition for the downtown core.<\/p>\n

This year, the gallery also worked with Virtro Games to develop a smartphone application to enhance viewers\u2019 experience of the sculpture. Definitely Dali is an augmented reality app \u2013 when a phone camera is focused on the image of Dali\u2019s face, the dancer begins to move her arms and spin.<\/p>\n

Alex Lazimir, who developed the app, talked about the privilege of spending many hours looking at Dali\u2019s dancer. \u201cI really like this piece because it was like going into Salvador Dali\u2019s mind. The first thing I thought was that she has to be spinning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Salvador Dali\u2019s \u201cDalinian Dancer\u201d can be found at the corner of Thurlow and Alberni. (photo by Shula Klinger)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the unveilings, Chali-Rosso hosted a champagne reception and a talk by James Sanders of Dali Universe (Switzerland). With reference to the sculptures at the gallery, Sanders spoke about Dali\u2019s life and the tremendous influence of his surreal imagination on the world of art. Sanders is responsible for sourcing locations, sponsors and partners for exhibitions all over the world.<\/p>\n

Originally from Europe, Strem came to Canada 25 years ago, via a spell in Israel. Formerly an information technology professional, Strem spoke about the challenge of bringing world-class art to public spaces in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese sculptures are traveling all over the world. They\u2019re exhibited in many major cities. Vancouver has to compete with cities like New York, London and Paris. These are major art hubs, so we are very happy that we managed to get two sculptures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Definitely Dali featured \u201cWoman in Flame\u201d and \u201cSurrealist Piano.\u201d More than three million visitors saw the sculptures.<\/p>\n

Bringing monumental works of art here is a labour of love, however. \u201cIt takes almost a year to organize something like this,\u201d said Strem. \u201cLast year, when we had two other sculptures here, we were already talking about this year\u2019s exhibition. It all depends on what is available and circumstances in other cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The logistics of moving bronzes like \u201cSpace Venus\u201d \u2013 which is 3.5 metres high \u2013 can be tough. \u201cThese sculptures were transported by ocean freight from Italy, then traveled through the Atlantic to the Panama Canal, up the Pacific Ocean past Mexico and California to Vancouver,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a long journey. We experienced a delay. There was a traffic jam in the Panama Canal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cSpace Venus\u201d by Salvador Dali has been placed in Lot 19, on West Hastings at Hornby. (photo by Shula Klinger)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These exhibits are both the impetus for, and a sign of, urban growth \u2013 \u201cfor a real city,\u201d said Strem, \u201cpublic art is a natural part of its evolution.\u201d She spoke of the collaboration with the Downtown Business Improvement Association. \u201cThey were full-force behind it from day one, which helped motivate us. They were really enthusiastic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Part of Chali-Rosso\u2019s community involvement includes supporting Recovery Through Art, a charitable organization in Vancouver that gives individuals struggling with mental illness and addiction a chance to heal through the creation and appreciation of art.<\/p>\n

Strem is already seeing the impact of the Dali pieces on public display. \u201cIf somebody is looking at their phone and they walk by 10 times but, this time, they look up and their face changes, even for a fleeting moment, that\u2019s important. Or they might stop for 30 minutes. There are many ways to enjoy art,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Strem explained that, to truly become part of life, art should not just be locked away in special locations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about having a destination for art, where you allocate time and energy to it,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen we don\u2019t engage with art like this, in public, people are missing out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shula Klinger<\/strong> is an author and journalist living in North Vancouver. Find out more at shulaklinger.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Left to right: Oree Gianacopoulos, Chali-Rosso Gallery director; James Sanders from Dali Universe (Switzerland); and Susanna Strem, president of Chali-Rosso Gallery. (photo by Shula Klinger) May 17 and 18 saw the unveiling of two sculptures by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, which will be on display until September. The sculptures were brought to Vancouver by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[9062,2466,6283,9064,9060,9063,9017,9061],"class_list":["post-32756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-alex-lazimir","tag-art","tag-chali-rosso","tag-james-sanders","tag-oree-gianacopoulous","tag-salvador-dali","tag-sculpture","tag-susanna-strem"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}