disney, &

Salvador

Dalí is one of the most celebrated artists of all time due to his contributions to the surrealist movement and exploration of subconscious imagery. Dalí’s exposure to the world of Surrealism in his 20s sparked his discovery of Sigmund Freud’s writings regarding subconscious imagery. He affiliated himself with surrealist artists that wanted to find the greater reality as described by Freud. In order to accomplish this, Dalí would induce hallucinatory states in himself by a process called paranoiac-critical. This method allowed for the rapid maturation of his painting style. Dalí would often depict a dreamworld in his pieces, with objects juxtaposed, deformed, or transformed in an irrational manner. He portrayed his depictions with oversaturated colors and hyperrealism by utilizing crisp details with an illusion of three-dimensionality to emphasize the dream-like quality of his work. Dalí’s fame and influence led him to travel around the world for exhibitions and shows. In 1944, while in America, Dalí was invited to a dinner party at the home of Jack Warner of Warner Bros, and it was this fateful night that led two of the most iconic 20th-century artists to develop a lifelong friendship.

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The first meeting between Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney is treated somewhat like a legend as there are no pictures of the two’s first encounter. Instead, the story lives on as a word-ofmouth-history passed down and affirmed by the recollection of John Hench, Dalí’s primary collaborator at Disney Studios. As a result, most of the information we have about this meeting and their collaboration comes from an interview with David Bossert, an artist and filmmaker, who has worked at Walt Disney Studios for over thirty years. Allegedly, while at the Jack Warner dinner party, the two hit it off right away; Dalí just happened to be a fan of Disney’s work saying he was the Great American Surrealist and Disney grew a great interest in surrealism while working on “Fantasia.” The two had a mutual appreciation for each other and their work, therefore they decided to collaborate on an animated short. Both wanted to create an experience that would bring people out of their daily lives and into what they considered a better and more imaginative world, thus “Destino” was conceptualized.

Writer: Lauren Carmona

Photographer: Lisa Nguyen

Design: Morgan Tran

Models: Aubrey Matson, Enrique Estrada & Mattison Gonzales