Simulacra and the order of mimesis in Dalí and Glenn Brown

David Lomas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The simulacrum, the concept of a copy without an original, has gained enormous currency within postmodern art and theory. It was extremely prescient of Dalí to have introduced the term into Surrealist discourse. My article explores the implications of the simulacrum for Dalí's work, for example the paradoxical description of painting as »hand-painted colour photography«, arguing that it is but one aspect of a systematically elaborated anti-modernist stance. It traces parallels with the contemporary appropriation artist, Glenn Brown, who paints entirely from reproduced images, including pictures by Dalí. A coda examines contemporary theoretical debates about the simulacrum. Michel Foucault, a key figure in the post-structural critique of representation, introduced the term in an essay on the Surrealist artist René Magritte. Though eclipsed in recent theoretical discussions by the informe and other aspects of Bataillean theory, I contend that simulation and the simulacrum afford an alternative, no-less-important path from Surrealism to postmodernity. © Taylor & Francis 2011.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)23-45
Number of pages22
JournalKonsthistorisk Tidskrift
Volume80
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2011

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