January 29, 2012– (St. Petersburg, FL) – The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg invites the public to a new exhibit: Contemporary Magic: A Tarot Deck Art Project. The exhibit will be on display from Friday, March 15 to Sunday, May 12, 2013.
Regardless of one’s take on psychic readings – Dalí painted his own set of Tarot cards and his wife Gala read Tarot Cards during their soirees – there’s no denying that the mysterious history and imagery of Tarot cards is ripe for interpretation by contemporary artists. And that’s exactly why the Dalí Museum is showcasing Contemporary Magic: At Tarot Deck Art Project.
Guest Curator Stacy Engman asked today’s most dynamic artists to submit new works based on the Tarot. The result is an amazing collection of seventy-eight must-see magical works of art. A variety of artists were commissioned including Ultra Violet, Andres Serrano, Francesco Vezzoli, Nan Goldin, and designers Christian Louboutin, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood.
This salute to Tarot exhibition has traveled to other locations, including the Warhol Museum. Guest Curator Stacy Engman is Chief contemporary curator to the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, New York City. This exhibition consists of the original artworks on paper; sized 7 x 10 inches (17.78 cm x 25.4 cm).
The Dalí museum store also sells a complete deck of Dalí Tarot Cards (78 cards) for $145.
This special exhibit is on display in the Museum’s Raymond James Community Room. Museum members are invited to a special reception slated for Friday, May 17 at 7 pm.
About the Dalí Museum
The Dalí Museum opened a new building on January 11, 2011. The museum is a work of distinguished architecture, with an Avant-Garden, a 1934 Rolls Royce that rains and thunders, a Spanish-themed café, and the largest museum store in the State. Salvador Dalí’s amazing works of art finally have a home designed specifically for this collection. The design has already attracted the world’s attention and is listed as one of the top buildings to see in your lifetime in AOL Travel News, was voted the top museum design in the state in a competition conducted by The Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Florida), and was recently named on Flavorwire.com as “One of the 20 Most Beautiful Museums in the World.”
The museum’s exterior is itself a work of art, featuring 1062 triangular-shaped glass panels. This geodesic glass structure – nicknamed the “Enigma” – is the only structure of its kind in North America and is a 21st century expression of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome as utilized in Dali’s Teatro Museo in Figueres, Spain. No two-glass panels are identical, providing a kaleidoscopic view of St. Petersburg’s picturesque waterfront. The Helical Staircase – a spiral that ascends to the third floor galleries and beyond – is the main architectural element of the interior. An energetic form created with mathematical precision and resembling a strand of DNA, Dalí recognized the helix as evidence of the divine in nature.
The Dalí is home to the Morse Collection, carefully assembled over four decades and donated by A. Reynolds and Eleanor R. Morse.
The Dalí Museum is located at One Dalí Boulevard, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. For additional information contact 727-823-3767, or thedali.org.