Angels of the Rebirth 1966

Curator: Salvador Dalí created this mixed media drawing, primarily watercolor and ink on paper, in 1966. It's titled "Angels of the Rebirth." Editor: My first impression? It feels chaotic but also buoyant, like a dream just before you wake, still tethered to a kind of illogical physics. Is that one wing…electric blue? It vibrates right off the paper. Curator: Dalí's later work often grapples with scientific themes and religious iconography, perhaps reflecting a changing social landscape post-World War II where traditional structures were being questioned. The "rebirth" in the title likely points to those thematic shifts. Editor: Rebirth, yeah… but reborn into what, a swirling vortex of consciousness? The figures almost seem to be disintegrating, their forms fractured like stained glass. Maybe that is the point, not the comfort of rebirth, but its scary side too. Curator: Dalí often used recurring motifs, and here we see his characteristic manipulation of form and space. He challenges the viewer's perception of reality. His commercial success, some would say, impacted how seriously the established art world took him. Editor: And maybe that's fair, or maybe the art world was just jealous of his showmanship! He understood the power of an image, even a fragmented, hallucinatory one. The way he uses watercolor – look at the bleeding edges of that blue wing – suggests impermanence. Ephemerality. Curator: Indeed. There's an interesting tension between the supposed rigidity of the religious theme and the fluidity of the media he employs. It questions established interpretations of these ideas. Editor: Questions them or turns them on their head and juggles them like a madman! Dalí always felt like a brilliant trickster, leading us into the labyrinth of his own mind. Curator: I'll ponder on Dalí's particular brand of madness a little longer then, thank you for bringing it up. Editor: My pleasure. Makes you think twice about angels, doesn’t it? In the best possible way, of course.