Salvador Dalí’s surreal universe unfolds in Istanbul through digital art

Dilara Özer - ISTANBUL

The exhibition explores Salvador Dalí’s art and his fascination with DNA, geometry, the fourth dimension and nuclear physics. (AA Photo)

Melting clocks, shifting dimensions and the strange logic of dreams take on a new dimension in Istanbul, where an immersive exhibition invites visitors into the mind of Salvador Dalí, the Spanish surrealist whose art blurred the boundaries between reality, illusion and scientific possibility.

“Into a Genius Mind: Dalí Cybernetics” opened on Oct. 22 at Istanbul Municipality’s Digital Experience Center. First presented in Barcelona in 2022, the exhibition has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors across 14 cities, including London, Berlin, Copenhagen, Lisbon and Athens, making Istanbul its 15th stop.

Developed by Barcelona-based Layers of Reality with support from the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, the exhibition explores how Dalí transformed scientific ideas into surrealist imagery. His fascination with DNA, nuclear physics, geometry, optical illusions and the fourth dimension reveals an artist who drew inspiration not only from dreams and the subconscious but also from humanity’s expanding understanding of the universe.

Across approximately 2,000 square meters, large-scale projections, interactive installations, augmented reality and virtual reality reconstruct Dalí’s imaginative world.

In “Dalívers,” visitors board a virtual ship and navigate dreamlike landscapes inspired by his art. Up to 20 people can explore the virtual reality space simultaneously.

An immersive room equipped with 30 4K projectors envelops visitors in 360-degree images, while an installation inspired by Dalí’s fascination with DNA brings the meeting of scientific discovery and artistic imagination into focus.

A particularly intimate section offers a rare glimpse of Dalí through the lens of Ara Güler, Türkiye’s internationally acclaimed photojournalist, whose photographs capture the artist beyond his iconic imagery.

Güler first met Dalí in 1971 at the Hôtel Meurice in Paris, after a long-standing desire to photograph the surrealist was fulfilled through a mutual acquaintance. The encounter led to further visits during which Güler photographed Dalí’s daily life and working environment, producing hundreds of frames. The exhibition presents just four photographs from this body of work — three in black and white and one in color — selected from the extensive archive preserved by the Ara Güler Archives and Research Center.

The collection also holds slides, negatives and contact prints of Dalí portraits, as well as a portrait signed by Dalí himself. Güler later included the artist among seven prominent figures of the 20th century in his book “Seven Personalities on Earth,” first published in 2002, recording his memories of their encounters.

The exhibition also features a cinema room drawing on Jack Bond’s 1965 documentary “Dalí in New York” and Albert and David Maysles’ 1966 film “Dalí’s Fantastic Dream.”

Layers of Reality Managing Partner Jordi Sellas i Ferrés said the exhibition asks what Dalí might have created had he possessed today’s technological tools, using immersive environments to turn his artistic universe into an experience visitors can explore from within.