Howie Luvzus despairs that his greatest accomplishment in life might be sharing a photo of a curvy lady in gold spandex. Actually, if the apex of my personal achievements involved spandex I'd be sorta proud. Think of it this way: apart from inventing the stuff, what would it take to have the word "spandex" appear in the first sentence of your obituary? See? Not such an easy thing to orchestrate, by any stretch (pun intended).
I'm having trouble pinpointing exactly what makes Howie's spandexed blonde so aesthetically compelling. Is it the sheer brazenness of her figure? I dunno, but it's the sort of image that stays with you-- for better or worse.
Personally, I like this photo the best. If you keep the front three figures, and put them on a vista resembling the salt flats, it's like an instant Salvador Dali painting.
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My favorite Dali is The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, in St. Petersburg (FLA). Painted in 1959, it's one of my favorite pieces of art.
There's a lot going on in the work, and I like that. I'm a fan of Hieronymous Bosch, for example. If you follow me on twitter, you know I tweet about Bosch incessantly.
Anyway: note Salvador kneeling on the beach, praying with crucifix-- his hopeful muse arising out of Columbus' banner, which is already firmly planted in the "new" continent. (Inspiration first, inspiration first.) Why does Columbus' beatific foot have such an ominous shadow? Similarly, there's a whole host of heavenly imagery mixed with the armaments and flags of Christian soldiers. Some of those crosses are flying over the ocean like missiles, aren't they? The ship's sail is faded and streaked. There's a sky eye view of Christ's head and slung torso during crucifixion (which might take a while to make out). And what's up with that mysterious hooded figure in the corner?
Impressively, the lunar-looking seashell in the foreground sits in the beach, a few small steps away from Christopher.
Not that you need to travel out of New Orleans to see something surreal, but I would consider a visit to St. Petersburg (FLA) to be incomplete if you didn't see this painting. (Btw, I hear that there's a museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, that also has some quality artwork.)
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Spandex looks painted on
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You gotta head to Figueres in Catalonia sometime. The Mae West room in the Dali Museum (& Mausoleum) is a must, as well as the mind-blowing pictures inspired by his wife, Gala.
I'd love to go!