Dalí delights: new Royal Academy show sparks explosion of surrealist interiors
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Salvador Dalí’s famous lobster telephone paired with Marcel Duchamp’s infamous “fountain” — or urinal — are on billboards all over town to flag up a new show at the Royal Academy, Dalí/Duchamp, until January 3.
Today you can’t buy a lobster telephone as such, though the Royal Academy is selling a vintage-style look-alike handset for £100. Australian design firm Noddy Boffin has made a lobster holder for a mobile phone as a Dalí tribute. And DIY Dalí includes sewing your own embroidered patches of the lobster and eye images on a plain cushion or the corner of a curtain or table runner. They are exclusive to the Royal Academy shop for £18.
Melting clocks, lips and lobsters are all Dalí’s visual legacy. But the eyes definitely have it for Dalí-esque furnishings. Kendra Dandy has stood eyes on end with lashes like a thick curtain fringe for a mural for Surface Surface. And George Douglas has eyeballs in overdrive on a wallpaper for Feathr.
A sofa inspired by a Dalí painting popped up in Knightsbridge last week. Its creator is Vincent Darré, a design celebrity in Paris. Now London can sample his outré style at the Vis-A-Vis bedding boutique in Motcomb Street, SW1. See the Conversations sofa, with its backrest of two “lovers” in silhouette.
Fans of London fashion designer Philip Colbert’s “wearable art” for The Rodnik Band include Lady Gaga and Cara Delevingne. Relax into a shark’s mouth for £449 or a lobster chair for £900.
For £6,000 you can buy a modern version of Dalí’s celebrated lips sofa, inspired by his 1935 portrait of Mae West, made in Italy by Gufram at design stores such as Chaplin’s.
There’s a witty take on Dalí’s moustache by London designer Peter Ibruegger — a set of five shot glasses for £30, at the Royal Academy shop.
Italian artist Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) even added a moustache for a bizarre wall plate (£125). Many Fornasetti designs including an Architettonico Table for £1,300 are at Amara.
Also championing surrealism in the UK are Mineheart’s Brendan Young and Vanessa Battaglia, with printed cupboards, rugs and cushions. And Lucy St George has fashioned a huge golden human hand into a surreal table.