The idea of buttoned up business man Walt Disney and surrealist master Salvador Dali working together seems like an unlikely pairing. That’s until you realize they were both essentially artists and showmen at heart.
Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination is an art event that explores their working relationship with contributions from The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco’s Presidio and The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. It stopped off in New York recently to show off some of its wares before heading south to set up shop.
The multimedia exhibit explores the inspiring, but somewhat tragic pairing of the two geniuses. Perhaps the greatest surrealist painter of all time, Dalí offered his daily life as a work of art. His public personae matched the groundbreaking nature of his work — always creating an alternative world.
Meanwhile, Disney expanded his work with pencil and paper into an entertainment empire based on similar, if less surreal, creativity. The two saw something familiar in each other and set out to work together.
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Sadly, what was to be a culmination of the work between the two men never came to pass as their would-be animated short, Destino, was never completed in their lifetimes.
The exhibit explores the concept art and other effort that went into the lost project, as well as the unique friendship the two men forged. Suffice to say, a close up and personal exploration of the work that went into Destino promised a Disney experience like no other.
The full exhibit closed recently in San Francisco, but is now up and running in Florida after making its cross country relocation. It’ll be on display now through June 12 at the Dali Museum.
