By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
When you step into the mind of Salvador Dalí, clocks won’t be the only things to melt. Your sense of time, space, and what an art exhibit should be – all may be affected.
THE LUME Indianapolis featuring Dalí Alive opened on March 3 in the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, 4000 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis, and will continue through March 2, 2025. At a preview of the experience – one hesitates to call this just an exhibit – The Reporter spoke to Newfields Vice President of Marketing & External Affairs Jonathan Berger about the work behind the Dalí Alive as well as the Salvador Dalí paintings they are putting on display for the first time in decades.
“Three years ago is when we started the project with THE LUME,” Berger said. “That’s when we brought in van Gogh. The following year was Monet. So a lot of the infrastructure was all set up. It’s a permanent exhibition. We redo the cafe every year and, of course, highlight new art every year. But re-skinning the whole galleries took a little bit of time. We took two months to do the flip to get to Salvador Dali.”
Among the many other ways Dalí Alive seeks to pull you in, there is an interactive room where you can take photos of your friends inside a Dalí mindscape and (above) options to make Dalí-style original art with the help of some AI. (Provided by “Dream It! Draw It! AI It!” at Newfields)
Dalí Alive was created in partnership with Grande Experiences in Australia. Berger told The Reporter Newfields’ initial talks with them were about van Gogh and Monet, but it was Grande Experiences personnel who brought up the possibility of a Dalí show.
“That was very exciting to me because we have these four pieces in our collection that haven’t been seen in 45, 50 years and just are these undiscovered treasures,” Berger said. “Actually, there’s a fifth one that we don’t even know where it is.”
The four watercolors in the Newfields collection are small pieces that were designed to be projected and enlarged as backdrops for an opera in Europe.
“After the shows ran, the producer then married a woman from La Porte, Ind.,” Berger said. “That’s how we came to own these. They donated these back in the early 70s to us. And again, there’s a fifth one that’s still out there.”
Berger said one of the goals at THE LUME is to teach people to experience art differently.
“It’s for people that are maybe a little bit curious about art, but maybe feel intimidated about coming in an art museum where they don’t know all the artists’ names or they don’t know an important piece to look at,” Berger said. “You can come into THE LUME and you can really explore yourself and consume art in a different way. As you go through the gallery spaces, that final gallery is a traditional gallery with four works of art in it. People then look at this art so much differently after seeing the life of Dalí and this artwork come alive. Like the elephants with long legs – that’s one of our paintings. When you look at it, it’s like, ‘Oh, I just saw that in there!’ You go into THE LUME and ‘wow, this is great technology.’ By the time that you’re in that last gallery, we’ve tricked you into becoming an art lover.”
There is a drink called the Canvasnova available in the café if you need a little break in the middle of the mind of madness. (Reporter photo)
The Reporter found walking through the mind of Salvador Dalí to be an experience that encourages one to lose track of both the time that has passed and what it means to be inside an artistic space.
The projections are carefully crafted to prevent most shadows, allowing you to walk through Dalí Alive in a strangely immersive way – almost becoming a part of the art itself.
“That’s where we all are here at Newfields,” Berger said. “We all love art. We just want to share our collection and our passion for art with everyone.”
Click here to gets tickets for this exhibit. Pricing will follow Newfields’ seasonal experience ticket model, including:
- Member Adults: $24
- Member Youth (ages 6 to 17): $17
- Public Adults: $29
- Public Youth (ages 6 to 17): $21
- Children ages 5 and under are free
Reporter photos
My Grandson loved the Monet exhibit so much that we went twice. I am uncertain that the Dali experience will be suitable for the 5 year old. Any help here?