All in all, it鈥檚 a really strong show that reveals a lesser-known side of this superstar artist. Full of surprising, small-scale cuttings and covers, if it鈥檚 an insight into the cult surrounding Dali, his sheer reach, celebrity and influence you鈥檙e after then you鈥檙e in for a treat. But if you鈥檙e simply hoping to catch in-the-flesh paintings of the same limelight-stealing icons rehashed in books, online and probably a fake exhibition or five, you might be disappointed. Something to bear in mind, for sure. Overall, though, thumbs up.
Dal铆: Master of Self-Promotion
Co-organized by the K11 Foundation and Spain鈥檚 Gala-Salvador Dal铆 Foundation, the show underlines Dal铆鈥檚 incredible dexterity and celebrity status. All wide-eyed and pointy mustached, his face was everywhere for a time: superimposed onto Mona Lisa for German mag Der Spiegel in 1959, splashed across Photo Monde and Revista -- even looking young and fresh-faced on the cover of a 1936 issue of Time. Viewed all together like this, he makes today鈥檚 "celebrity" artists -- the Tracey Emins, Damien Hirsts, or Ai Wei Weis of this world -- look like minor characters. Of course, it鈥檚 not just his character, antics, and proclamations that intrigued. His paintings, sculptures and designs remain perennially popular. Classic. For the Foundation charged with protecting Dal铆鈥檚 estate, that鈥檚 a decidedly mixed blessing.
Anyway, magazine covers and excerpts are the mainstay at this exhibition, including those designed by Dal铆 himself, reproductions of his works or images, or Dal铆-created advertisements for everything from Elsa Schiaparelli鈥檚 groundbreaking fashions to Perrier water.
Does Dal铆鈥檚 huge body of commercial work make him a sell-out? Certainly not, explains exhibition curator, Montse Aguer:
"Dal铆 was very intelligent. He defined himself as a thinking machine and gave us this image of 'showman,' but that鈥檚 not real. He arrived in the US in the '40s while a World War was happening in Europe, thinking this was the center of the world -- 'I need to self-promote, I need to help audiences approach my art.'"
Dal铆鈥檚 ads for the likes of Bryan鈥檚 hosiery, Isotta Fraschini cars, and loads more are fascinating to see. Purists might hold on to the somewhat perverse taboo that such unabashed commercialization compromises an artist鈥檚 reputation. Is that fair? 鈥淗e was very conscious of that,鈥� said Aguer. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楶ublicity loves me and I love publicity!鈥� He was very aware of what he was doing. He said, 'if Michelangelo could design walls for chapels, why shouldn鈥檛 I design dresses or perfume?'鈥�
The exhibition features 14 original paintings, linking Dal铆鈥檚 media work with his signature visual language: faceless statues, melting clocks and egg shaped forms, all hovering somewhere between dreams and reality. There鈥檚 also a section showcasing what鈥檚 rather morbidly described as "Dal铆鈥檚 Remains." The non-mortal kind, it鈥檚 actually paraphernalia like the artist鈥檚 palette, brushes, glasses and so on.
Dali鈥檚 Legacy in China
From here, things take a turn for the contemporary with a group show curated by LEAP magazine鈥檚 Robin Peckham. The first half of this features slightly older, established contemporary artists, and the second is given to younger talents whose connection to the theme feels somewhat shakier.
Of the first bunch -- Zhou Tiehai, Zhang Enli and Wang Xin Wei -- it鈥檚 Tiehai鈥檚 pleasingly ridiculous Louis XVIII that resonates most with the superstar next door. Peckham explained:
"Looking at their work, what鈥檚 shared is humor. All of these painters are very, very funny, which is something you don鈥檛 see in a lot of more standard Realist Chinese paintings鈥� what you get from Dal铆 is this idea of painting as performance鈥� and part of a fundamentally humorous conversation. With the younger generation, there was no interest in Surrealism whatsoever. So we went in and said, alright, despite the fact that they鈥檙e disavowing Surrealism, where can we see the legacy of Dal铆 in their work? The answer was to find the idea of the surreal, the territory between the real and the unreal that鈥檚 becoming an interesting place for artists to work in, either because of the media they鈥檙e working in and its digital, virtual appearance, or psychology."
Louis XVIII. Image courtesy of Zhou Tiehai
Honestly, the section doesn鈥檛 really feel integral to the wider whole - although paintings by Geng Yini and Wang Buke are nonetheless well worth seeking out.
On Repros, Fakes and Copyrights
In the run up to the show, much was made of the fact that this is the "the only exhibition in China showcasing Dal铆鈥檚 works to be officially authorized by the Gala-Salvador Dal铆 Foundation since 2001." Further underpinning these very vocal proclamations of authenticity, certain repros are labeled 鈥淔irst Complete Authorized Replica in Mainland China.鈥� To find out what that鈥檚 all about, I asked Joan Manuel Sevillano Campalans, Managing Director of the Gala-Salvador Dal铆 Foundation to outline its role with regard to the artist鈥檚 legacy.
"Very simply, the Foundation are the right holders. It was the Spanish people who inherited Dal铆 and the Spanish government who was empowered to manage all copyrights, moral rights, intellectual copyrights -- just as it was doing when Dal铆 was alive. In order to copy a work, reproduce, adjust or manipulate a work you need the permission of the artist or the right holders, which is usually the family. Dal铆 had no family; the Foundation was his family. So anything that does not have our permission is not authorized."
Easy! But the fact remains: this is not the only Dal铆 show to hit Shanghai since 2001. Although not prepared to comment on specific exhibitions (including, presumably, the current Dal铆 showcase over at Bund18鈥�), Campalans described the murky -- and at times outright plagiaristic waters -- surrounding the artist鈥檚 estate:
"A very tiny fraction of Dal铆鈥檚 intellectual property was contracted off at the end of his life [to], in many cases, people who are perfectly serious, legitimate and trustworthy publishers of commercial art. Some are of a high standard, others of a passable standard. For the most part they did their contracts, the series remained and these pieces have a secondary market value. In other cases you have private collectors who have things at home and they want to create a commercial venture or they just want to show their stuff鈥� Legitimate partners of the foundation will always call us.
A very small amount of people have pursued their contracts in what we consider questionable ways. You start seeing manipulation of works, or works that were not made by Dal铆 which very often fall under the category of merchandising. They鈥檙e presented as originals in an effort to raise the price or perception of value of that particular thing. In some cases, people just copy: they just go ahead and reproduce what they're not authorized to do, hoping they won't be found out.鈥�
How to keep track of all that? Not just in China, but the whole world?
"Normally in countries where we have a presence, through for example, the Artists Rights Society (ARS), we find out about these things." Therein lies the challenge facing not just the Dal铆 Foundation, but any artist dead or alive who鈥檚 found their work appearing on anything from t-shirts to notebooks: 鈥淐hina is not a member of ARS鈥� worldwide network. They鈥檙e negotiating this now. China is taking bold steps into normalizing its IP management situation."
That鈥檚 great, but arguably not enough -- as eye-opener from 2012 succinctly demonstrates. Just today, it took me all of about five seconds to find a Hebei company flogging knock-off bronze elephants from just 3,500 USD. What鈥檚 a foundation to do?
鈥淩ight now, many of the tools we have in Europe or the US don鈥檛 really work here -- cease and desist letters, for example. It鈥檚 a completely different approach and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to build: not only the legal right to pursue something, but also the friends that might help us in terms of things not going wrong to start with. The first step we鈥檙e taking is coming back to China. This is our first step in an ambitious program to create a network of associates, allies, open communication channels with the authorities and educational institutions."
With that in mind, the Foundation launched a just this week. 鈥�We鈥檙e going to do more things like that, but you can鈥檛 do everything at the same time. At the end of the day we are not a corporation we鈥檙e a cultural institution so you have to adjust to the reality."
***
So, there you have it: the commercial ventures of a guru of self-promotion, against a conscious backdrop of contraband commercialization, all housed inside temple to (art) commerce, K11. It鈥檚 a fascinating show, especially for anyone working in media or design. As you鈥檇 expect, tickets don鈥檛 come cheap. 120rmb a pop, to be precise. Oh, and if Wednesday鈥檚 private view crowds are anything to go by, this one鈥檚 going to be pretty packed, most of the time. Do yourself a favor: go on a weekday.
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