Open AccessA strip-tease act conducted in pink limelight: Salvador Dali, George Orwell, and the construction of a surreal/ist self
Author(s) -
Daniella Sanader
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
studies by undergraduate researchers at guelph
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2291-1367
DOI - 10.21083/surg.v4i1.1204
Subject(s) - persona , limelight , george (robot) , identity (music) , entertainment , biography , painting , sociology , art , focus (optics) , aesthetics , art history , visual arts , humanities , physics , optics , electrical engineering , engineering
Within this paper I examine the relationship between Salvador Dali’s grandiose autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, and a critical article by George Orwell entitled “Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali.” Through a consideration of these two related texts, this paper will focus on the methods through which Dali constructs his artistic persona – in a way that emphasizes his identity as contingent, de-centered and multidimensional. By analyzing several aspects of Dali’s public life, including autobiographical writings, paintings and television appearances, I will also consider his motivations as both Surrealist and economic in inclination. Ultimately, I develop an understanding of Dali as a textual, historicized entity; one that allows me to explore the ways in which artistic identity is constructed for public consumption and entertainment.