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Uruguayan-Spanish artist Yamandú Canosa (born 1954) creates an intense dialogue between Surrealism and contemporary art in The Visit, a new exhibition of paintings, drawings and photographs. The Visit features both abstract and figurative works set in a dramatic installation especially conceived for The Dalí Museum, with a majority of the works created for the exhibition.
On view exclusively at The Dalí beginning June 18, 2022 and on view through October 30, 2022, The Visit includes new and previous notable works by Yamandú Canosa, plus a small selection of related Salvador Dalí works from the Museum’s renowned collection. A portion of the Museum’s Hough Gallery will be transformed into a dramatic installation designed by the artist specifically for the Museum. Organized by The Dalí, the project is curated by Dr. William Jeffett, chief curator, who has previously published about the artist’s work.
“The Dalí is committed to tracing the lineage of the Avant-garde that precedes Salvador Dalí and continues in his wake; Yamandú Canosa is an important part of this legacy,” Dalí Museum Director Hank Hine said.
Canosa’s meditative installation explores Salvador Dalí’s environment in Port Lligat, Spain, where Dalí lived and worked throughout his lifetime. The works relate the viewer to the horizon, while alluding to the Bay of Port Lligat: the beach, the Tramontana wind, Dalí’s house and the island of Sa Farnera. Canosa’s installation also incorporates the Dibujos ciegos (Blind Drawings), a series of performative works on paper created through a drawing process that elaborates on surrealist practices.
“Yamandú Canosa’s work incorporates the implication of modern art into a contemporary practice, viewed from the vantage point of the 21st century,” exhibition curator William Jeffett said. “We look forward to sharing with our audiences how his strikingly coherent and beautiful vision explores the contemporary relevance of Surrealism, in particular Canosa’s fascination with the subconscious and the viewer’s relation to space and location.”
In the words of the artist, “The exhibition is intended as a visit that contemporary art pays to the house of Surrealism. One of the great legacies of the surrealist movement is its aesthetic complexity, which is confirmed in its permanence in today’s art and which is continuously revitalized through new formal and disciplinary proposals. Surrealism is about an attitude, not aesthetic formulas: it is a way of looking at and relating to experience.”
About the Artist
Born in 1954 in Montevideo, Uruguay, Yamandú Canosa became involved in the Montevideo art scene in the 1970s while studying architecture, and it is where he had his first solo exhibitions. He moved to Spain in 1975 and currently lives and works in Barcelona. Canosa’s work has been featured in exhibitions in Montevideo, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Salamanca, Figueres, Paris, Venice, Rotterdam, Hannover, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and Miami, among other cities. In addition to being present in international private collections, Yamandú Canosa’s works are represented in a number of museums and foundations worldwide.
Yamandú Canosa’s work was shown by The Dalí for the first time in St. Petersburg and Albuquerque in the 2006 exhibition Picasso to Plensa: A Century of Art from Spain, co-organized by The Dalí and the Albuquerque Museum.
In 2019, Canosa represented Uruguay at the 58th Venice Biennale with his project La casa empática (The Empathic House). Previously, in 2000, Canosa had received the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship and, in 2006, the Jennifer Howard Coleman Distinguished Lectureship and Residency Fellowship from the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. In 2007, Uruguay awarded him the prestigious Pedro Figari Prize.
About The Dalí Museum
The Dalí Museum, located in picturesque downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, is home to one of the most acclaimed collections of a single modern artist in the world, with over 2,000 works representing every moment and medium of Salvador Dalí’s creative life. The Dalí is recognized internationally by the Michelin Guide with a three-star rating; has been deemed “one of the top buildings to see in your lifetime” by AOL Travel News; and was named one of the 10 most interesting museums in the world by Architectural Digest. The Dalí’s acclaimed digital experiences have received numerous national and international awards for creative innovation.
The Museum is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve Dalí’s legacy for generations to come and serve as an active resource in the cultural life of the community and the world at large.
The Dalí is open daily, located at One Dalí Boulevard, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. For more information visit TheDali.org or download the free Dalí Museum App.
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