Dalí and Arp: Surrealism and Dada Converge in First Major German Exhibition

The Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck in Remagen, Germany, will host the first large-scale exhibition revealing the surprising affinities between Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) and Hans Arp (1887–1966). Titled 'Salvador Dalí and Hans Arp. The Birth of Memory,' the show runs from February 16 to August 16, 2020. Dalí, a seminal Surrealist, and Arp, a founding member of Dada, both developed their visual languages in the Surrealist milieu of Paris, creating symbolic correspondences between the human figure and everyday objects. The exhibition highlights parallels in their vocabulary of forms, reinterpretation of objects, and use of the human body. Arp's soft, flowing ovals often appear as if they emerged from a Dalí painting, while Dalí's oppressive surreal worlds gain lightness when juxtaposed with Arp's playful poetics. The show demonstrates the decisive influence the two artists had on each other.