Dreams of Dalí

Dreams of Dalí takes viewers inside the mind of the legendary surrealist, Salvador Dalí, by transporting them into one of his early paintings, Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s “Angelus” (1935).

As part of the exhibition, visitors are invited to wear a virtual-reality headset, which brings Dalí’s dreamscape to life. They can then move around inside the painting in a fully immersive 3‑D environment. The experience allows the viewer to explore the elements in the painting, to look beyond the areas depicted on the canvas and even listen to what could be the artist’s thoughts in his own voice. Viewers may even begin to recognize some of the signal motifs that recur in Dalí’s other works, such as Weaning of Furniture Nutrition (1934), Lobster Telephone (1936), and First Cylindric Chromo-Hologram Portrait of Alice Cooper’s Brain (1973), which are a part of the Museum’s permanent collection. Other famous elements of his work can also be seen like his elephants, birds and ants.

Months of research on the artist’s work and on that specific painting were necessary to bring the scenario to life in a way that’s imaginatively as close as possible to what Dalí might have seen in his mind before he began the painting. “We used today’s technology to reveal how the world Dalí imagined and created more than 80 years ago would look like if it existed,” said Sam Luchini, creative director at GS&P. Roger Baran, also a GS&P creative director on the project, added, “We think Dalí imagined a real place and this painting was his way of expressing it.”

The virtual reality experience not only brings to life the landscape in Dalí’s painting, but also reveals what may have been imagined in the artist’s hidden memories and explores recurring subjects of his work and their significance. “Dalí called his paintings ‘dream photographs,’ demonstrating his love of the dream world and of exacting images,” stated Hank Hine, Director of The Dalí Museum, “Dreams of Dalí honors the artist and gives us access to his remarkable imagination in an ecstatic way.”

“We are excited that our partnership with the Museum has allowed us an opportunity to explore a new way to look at art,” remarked GS&P co-founder Jeff Goodby. “Dalí was a true visionary and no other artist would be a better fit for this project.”