Reimaging Dali!

Without any doubt, Salvador Dali's "Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man (1943)" has been my most favorite work by the surrealist artist. The eerie and ominous painting makes me reflect on an odd foreshadowing of the end of the world, but also a possible rebirth or re-development of it as well. Dali uses dark colors of red, yellow, brown, and white to paint the surreal art piece, creating a bittersweet nightmare for all of its viewers.
I was drawn to the original painting just because of its mere surrealism. The artwork produces so many  thoughts that the mind cannot simply choose one set idea about the painting. I decided to zoom in and re-frame the painting where we see a human being (or other-worldly being) hatching out of the egg-like Earth. It was by far the key image that stood apart from the rest of the work, not only because it was in the center of the painting, but also because of its odd imagery, as seen below:



Original Salvador Dali painting.



With these new modifications, we as the audience can compare and contrast the two images. Right off the bat, I notice that the lines are perceived differently in the two works. In the original image, our eyes are drawn into the entire body of the hatchling. We see the foot, desperately kicking its way out, while the arms flail out of the cracks of the egg-imprisonment. This is similar with the the re-framed image, but our eyes are more focused on what is in and on the egg. One can observe that the yellowed spots on the egg resemble continents. He or she may also notice the torso of the life form struggling out of the egg rather than its foot or arm. This is all due to line movement. There is also less space in the re-framed work than the second, giving us an odder closeness with the being in the egg.

 

Re-framed Salvador Dali painting

                                                                                                                                                                  Also both works share their similarities. They both have a common rhythm and movement. Our eyes are immediately drawn to the hatching in both paintings. Investigating some of the binary artistic aspects of the paintings, I realize that both have a common affinity with using yellow in both the foreground and background, but also contrast it with the eerie whitish-brown egg in the middle. Further observations show that Dali gave his audience active and didactic points of views with his painting (in both the re-framed and original). He gives us the didactic imagery of a man (or sub-human) breaking out of an egg, or spherical imprisonment of some kind, but he gives us the active interpretation to decided what it means, just as I thought it represented the end of the world. Regardless, I find the Dali's work impressive and thought provoking, and I encourage others to view his paintings and artwork.