Dalí: Gems features selections of the artist's work by celebrated friends of the Dalí, including Alice Cooper, Jeff Koons, Susan Sarandon and John Waters - and an opportunity for Dalí visitors to select their favorite work of art. Drawing from the Museum's collection, our curator, Joan Kropf, meticulously selected over 80 exquisite and rarely viewed pieces from the vault, including jewelry, paintings, drawings, glassware, and objets d'art. The ever poplar Holograph of Alice Cooper's Brain is included.

The jewelry designed by Dalí in the 1940s and 1950s is a highlight of the Dalí: Gems exhibition. According to curator Joan Kropf, "Dalí, inspired by the artists of the Renaissance, designed jewels, where the craftsmanship outweighed the material value of the gold and gems. His aesthetic sensitivity seized hold of the themes and the myths that obsessed his thoughts, transcribing into pearls and precious stones his fantastic and symbolic world, including an interpretation of his famous melting clock as a gold and diamond brooch. Eleanor Morse, Dalí museum co-founder, wore the 13 pieces on display."

Another key work on display is Dalí's Alchemy of the Philosophers, published in 1976. This rarely viewed and exceptional example of Dalí's ambitious book projects of the 1970s was painstakingly produced over a period of four years.

Finally, not to be overlooked, are the other rare gems from the collection - pieces that have remained in the vault for most of the last 27 years and have only been removed in a few instances. These include original and commercially designed items all bearing Dalí's iconic images: Venus de Milo with Drawers, 1936/1964; Birth of Venus, 1963, painted by Dalí in a gold cup; the Steuben Venus with Drawers glass bowl, 1939; Vermeil and gold Mollusk flatware, 1957; and much more.

Dalí: Gems is sponsored by Franklin Templeton Investments. Additional support is provided by Chez Bryce, The Island Bistro, and Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater.

Una noche sin fin derives from Dalí’s persistent interest in photography and film, specifically his fascination with high-speed photography. Filmed with high-speed cameras, some parts of Una noche play in slow motion. As well, Palacín used time-lapse to speed up movement or create an animation effect. The work is a double-screen, synchronized projection presented on a seamless loop and staged in a red space which evokes the tradition of a movie theater. The sound track is made up of noises recorded in real time and a music track composed by Mark Cunningham, an American composer trained at Eckerd College and now based in Barcelona.

As part of the exhibition Palacín presents two series of photographic images derived from sequences which appear in the video. The first is twenty-four photographs from one of the high-speed sequences where a glass of wine is spilled. Here the film stills reveal the sheer density of images achieved with the high-speed camera. The other group of three images are from a time-lapse sequence, where the theater seating seems to move by its own volition in animation.

Palacín has always been interested in how still and moving images interact and how the new media of photography, film and video shape our understanding of the world. These questions directly relate to Dalí’s writing on photography. As she explains, “Dalí was fascinated with how slow motion was capable of revealing forms that the eye cannot see, and many of the figures that appear in his paintings enormously resemble those provided by the high-speed camera.”

Dr. William Jeffett, Chief Curator / Exhibitions, Salvador Dalí Museum, produced Una noche sin fin. Mirco Mejetta provided artistic direction. The project is a co-production of the Salvador Dalí Museum, the State Corporation for Spanish Cultural Action Abroad (SEACEX), the Direction of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and the Department of Culture of the Generalitat of Catalunya (The Regional Government of Catalonia). Thanks to Sponsor Painters on Demand.