Sex, Surrealism, Dali And Me

I remember the first time I saw a Salvador Dali painting. On a holiday to London years ago, I visited the Tate Gallery and for several minutes remained transfixed before an enticing, but definitely peculiar surrealistic painting by a gregarious mustached man whose paintings were as eccentric as he was. This biography made me understand more clearly the man behind the paintings. Lets face it, you either love Dalis paintings or hate them, and the same can be said about the artist who didnt apologize about his life, but who remained defiantly on the fringes of genteel society. This biography takes place in the latter years of his life. Dali is still with his wife/muse Gala (the subject of many of his paintings), but Dali is clearly enthralled by young, effeminate/androgynous youths, but literally keeps them at arms length. This biography is about him and one of these youths, the Colombian dancer Carlos Lozano, who seemed as mesmerized by Dali and his flamboyant lifestyle as Dali. Carlos is quickly sucked into the undertow of Dalis fame and perversions and becomes as great an influence on Dali, as Dali was on him. While neither mans lifestyle and desires were ones I would choose, all the drama and hoopla surrounding the man is fascinating indeed. I will never be able to look at a Dali painting the same. For any admirer of Dali or even those curious about the man and the myththis is a well-written, thought-provoking, must read.

Sex, Surrealism, Dal and Me offers a fascinating insight into the mind and world of a singular genius who is talented, eccentric, egocentric, megalomaniacal . . . and, like his artwork, deliberately defies efforts to define. Told through the memories of Carlos Lozano, a model and dancer whose own life was unusual and extraordinary, the book covers Dals later years, during which his health and creativity declined, but not his eccentricities. Dal and Lozano offer wide-ranging comments that are simultaneously astute, acerbic and absurd. Like Dal, the book is insightful, outrageous and provocative, or as Dal himself would have put it: Dalnian.

I’ve read a few books and seen film/documentaries on Dali, but this is the best portrait of Dali the wonderfully talented, demented, sexually repressed voyeur and paranoid. Gala is portrayed in the same way she always is in books about Dali, as Dali’s true love (with whom it is highly unlikely he ever had sex, although she used Dali’s paintings to pay many, many men for sex), a psychopathic woman who controlled Dali, and “a monster.”

Carlos the innocent wanders into Dali’s crazed world of pretentiousness, showmanship, madness, and feigned divine wisdom. Dali treated him like a pimp who brought beautiful and interesting people to Dali for decades. It’s obvious Dali loved Carlos as well, and did many good things for him in return for Carlos’s lifelong friendship and loyalty.

The stories are wonderful, often hilarious, and usually involve nudity of Dali’s assessment of other men’s “limousines” (their penises) and masturbation. Some of the names have been changed to protect the “innocent,” while others are not. I’m sure Amanda Lear hates this book as Carlos makes no bones about her having once been a man. Dali called her his ultimate creation as he paid for the surgery to remove her penis. Yeah, gossip, sex, and fun, but there’s a deeper story of a naive hippie boy who accidentally encounters an artist whom he will cater to for the rest of his life. Carlos would break away (sometimes with a surprise gift of a big roll of cash from Dali) to search for meaning in India and the religions of that part of the world, but when Dali called, Carlos came running back. They weren’t lovers, but Carlos was Dali’s procurer and toy. They loved each other in a very deep way that lasted until their deaths.

The writing is easy, poetic, and excellent, but the typesetting for this edition is terrible. Spaces between words are often not there, sentences break to the next line when they aren’t supposed to, and more. It’s irritating, but the contents of the book make it worth gritting on’es teeth a bit in order to enjoy Carlos’ wonderful narrative. He dictated most of the book to Clifford Thurlow while on his deathbed and in great pain for a long period of time. It’s touching and definitely a must for anyone wanting to know more about Dali. The biggest plus is getting to know the loving, gentle soul who was Carlos Lozano (pictured on the cover of the book).

A MUST READ!

This book tells the story of Carlos Lozano, Dali & the people in their lives. Lozano met Dali when he was past 60 – so this is definitely not the story of his most creative years. So if you’re looking for a more structured understanding of Dali’s life & contemporary European art at the time – look elsewhere.

This book paints a very vivid picture of Dali as he was in the years that Lozano & Dali were together. It is full of interesting observations about the great painter & his eccentricities – many bordering on the lewd & obscene, I think it is safe to say. Lozano’s success lies in blending a very interesting style of articulating this story – part floral, poetic, part astute observations, part hippie & boundless, always genuine & deeply human – with the colors of Dali’s persona & the inundation of the absurd. In many ways, I think that this book was written very deliberately in that particular way, to capture a certain flavor – to arrest more than to inform, to tease more than to be precise.

I definitely enjoyed reading this book for all its unresisting structure & forays into the absurd.

@souvikstweets

I recently read a work by Clifford Thurlow, and having been so impressed by the style, I decided to read some more. I admit to having little true knowledge of Salvador Dali, save for his striking, bizarre images found in his surrealist work, but was delighted to find this memoir was delivered with exquisite panache, soon drawing me into its world while revealing an insight into the enigmatic mind of Dali, a mind perhaps only seen by the rare few, and by others so often misunderstood. Sex, Surrealism, Dali and Me is a superb piece of writing and recounted by Carlos Lozano, a loyal confidant of Dali, and describes Dalis intrigue with young androgynous males, his ostentatious lifestyle, depravity and notoriety. His love of provocation, in the fascination of arousing sexual feeling by means of suggestion, symbolism, or allusion clearly spills from his private life and into his work as an artist. A wonderful glimpse from a different perspective and one I highly recommend. A must read for each and any admirer of Salvador Dali.

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