The Walt Disney Family Museum (San Francisco, CA) and The Dalí Museum (St. Petersburg, FL) are proud to announce Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination, on view from July 10, 2015 through January 3, 2016 at the Walt Disney Family Museum and at The Dalí Museum late January through June, 2016.
Guest-curated by filmmaker Ted Nicolaou, this immersive and enriching multi-media exhibition tells the story of the unlikely alliance between two of the most renowned artists of the twentieth century: brilliantly eccentric Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí and American entertainment innovator Walt Disney. Presented through a multimedia wonderland of original paintings, story sketches, conceptual artwork, objects, correspondences, archival film, photographs, and audio—many of which highlighting work from Disney studio artists—this comprehensive exhibition showcases two vastly different icons who were drawn to each other through their unique personalities, their collaboration on the animated short Destino—which, regrettably to both Disney and Dalí was never completed during their lifetimes—and their enduring friendship.
“The Walt Disney Family Museum, founded by Walt’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller, presents the life story of Diane’s father, which story inspires visitors to heed their imaginations and persevere in pursuing their goals,” said The Walt Disney Family Museum’s Executive Director Kirsten Komoroske. “In keeping with this mission, the exhibitions at the museum feature dreamers, innovators, and collaborators. The museum’s next major exhibition unveils another aspect of Walt’s story: the friendship between Walt and the influential and revolutionary artist, Salvador Dalí. The exhibition, co-organized with the Dalí Museum, not only further fulfills the mission of the museum, but also further solidifies the museum’s place among the many phenomenal fine art institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Born three years and half a world apart, both Disney and Dalí bore boyhood imaginations grounded in their upbringing in the 1900s, encouraging their lives, careers, and legacies to be paralleled on a profound level. A deeper look into the lives and artistic prominence of the Surrealist and the dreamer—highlighted by hand-written letters and alongside filmed dramatizations and audio re-creations—will show just how alike these two innovators were in blurring the lines between reality and dreams.
The friendship between Disney and Dalí was born out of the mutual admiration of two visionary artists and sustained by the simple kinship of two small town boys on a never-evening quest to broaden the horizons of art. Their influence reverberates all around us—in films, television, stage, advertising, fashion, and art. Through dedicated work, ingenious self-promotion, and their singular artistic visions, their names and art are forever fused in our collective imagination.
“Disney and Dalí heralds a new era in art exhibitions,” said Dalí Museum Executive Director, Hank Hine. “Visitors can expect a multi-sensory environment of moving image, soundscapes, and the transformative aura of exquisite individual paintings. Disney and Dalí broke new ground as artists—the Walt Disney Family Museum and The Dalí will deliver a brave new world of experience.”
Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination is co-organized by The Walt Disney Family Museum and The Dalí Museum, with the collaboration of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation in Figueres, Spain, and The Walt Disney Studios.