A new series of monthly illustrated talks for the Arts Society Isle of Man gets under way later this month with a lecture on the fascinating life and artwork of Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali.
Bill Power will present the talk, which is a change to the original scheduled programme, in the lecture theatre of the Manx Museum, in Douglas, on Tuesday, September 19.
The next event will be a lunch and two lectures at the Comis Hotel, in Santon, on October 17.
Bill is an accredited Arts Society lecturer who enjoys sharing his love of art, history and music through his extensive list of lectures.
He will talk about Dali, who was renowned for his technical skill, precise craftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images influenced by Freud’s ideas about dream analysis.
Dali was known for his flamboyant personality and role of mischievous provocateur, exploring the fascinating world of the subconscious mind through his unique imagery.
He was described as having a narcissistic personality, believing he was the saviour of painting, and famously declared: ‘I only want to be Salvador Dali and nothing else.’
Dominant themes in Dali’s paintings entitled ‘The Persistence of Memory’, ‘The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory’ and ‘Morphological Echo’ show his preoccupation with the passing of time and revolve around his childhood sexual desires and on the study of the unconscious mind.
Dali developed a life-long fascination with cinema and photography as vehicles for his imagination as it allowed him to explore the power of illusion and to create fantastical worlds that merged dream and reality.
His later work, alongside some of the most influential film makers of the 20th century, led to his development of chilling imagery for Hitchcock while his work for Disney included the iconic image of the melting clock.
He famously enjoyed his notoriety and increasingly became the showman that critics later said detracted from his art.
The series of illustrated talks features speakers chosen by the Arts Society for their knowledge and delivery and covers a variety of topics.
The talks take place on Tuesdays. They start at 11.30am and last about an hour.
All are welcome to attend the Manx Museum lectures. Membership is £60 a year and includes a magazine and access to social events, or you can pick and choose from the topics and pay £10 at the door. For more information see theartssociety.org/isle-man