After a long incubation, Dali17 had its soft opening on July 7. The madding crowd gone, the works of Salvador Dali – more than 580 lithographs, more than 300 of them originals – now stand alone without fanfare.
In the lobby, the gift shop is closed, but a backdrop with the Dali17 logo and a picture of Dali’s spooked face and elongated mustache is set apart by velvet rope for visitors to pose and take pictures.
Inside, it’s darker. The airy window light from the Museum of Monterey’s previous incarnation as a maritime and history museum is covered over. The iconic lighthouse lens is hidden behind black curtains. Modular walls have been brought in, and track lighting focuses the eyes on the rows and rows of artwork.
The lithographs, some purported to be shot from a paint gun, encompass a dizzying variety of stuff. There’s a ziggurat by the sea, the shroud of Jesus, Don Quixote, a theater stage, nudes, grotesque creatures, landscapes, mythical and literary tableaus. All are set in gold-gilded frames.
The work is strange enough, subject to the dream qualities of the surrealist painter, to be open to some interpretation. But the titles ground them in Dali’s whimsical mind. One is named “The Laser Unicorn Disintegrates the Horns of the Cosmic Rhinoceros.” Another harkens to his famous melting clocks, “The Frozen Watches of Space-Time.”
Many of the pieces are part of a series – scenes from the Bible or references to the Marquis de Sade. It’s striking art. But there is so much of it – the frames stacked like Tetris, competing for your attention – that the exhibit feels like flipping through a picture book.
The collection is owned by Dmitry Piterman, who is on the board of the nonprofit Monterey History and Art Association, which built and owns the building. Dali17 is their joint venture.
Attendance is up, which was the point. By email, MHAA Vice President Marc Del Piero points out: “During the past five years there were many, many days when we had virtually no visitors to the maritime exhibits, except people passing through to use the public restrooms.”
Spokesperson Katya Semmes says the museum has been embraced by locals and tourists alike, and adds they plan to bring in speakers, screenings, volunteers and programming to keep up engagement.
“You know how in L.A. and San Francisco it seems like there’s always something happening?” she says. “That’s what we’re going to do here.”
Asked if there is a contingency plan in case Dali17 can’t sustain itself, Semmes says, “We’re not even going there, because that’s not our plan.”
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