On Friday night, a County Durham town will be lit up by a community celebration following the arrival of an iconic painting in the town earlier this year.
Dalí: Surreal Worlds , will take over Bishop Auckland town centre with a display of light installations and art designed to ignite the imaginations of those who experience it. Inspired by the arrival of Dalí's masterpiece Christ of Saint John of the Cross at the town's Spanish Gallery earlier this year, the interactive community event will incorporate larger-than-life artworks, collaborative exhibitions, a street art trail, and a programme of live entertainment and creative workshops.
Developed to 'bring the whole community to see Dalí", two large scale light installations, featuring the work and ideas of almost 200 young people, will offer a shining centrepiece to proceedings in the town's Market Place and Auckland Tower for the afternoon to evening event. The original artwork for the Market Place has been created by North East artist Stuart Langley, who has led sessions with 120 children from local schools along with The Auckland Project's Transformative Arts Officer Jilly Johnston.
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A second light installation has been created by artist Jane Crawford with art students from Bishop Auckland which will light Auckland Tower from the inside.
Stuart Langley said: " I like to focus on creating moments of magic set amongst the everyday. I think engaging with others in the creation of work is a brilliant way of getting people inspired by the power of art.
"For this project we knew we wanted to create an artwork which combined the drama of light and a compelling large-scale structure to be able to mirror the fascinating magnetism of Dali's work. The key motivation for me is to create something which doesn't directly replicate the work of Dali but echoes the sense of wonder and emotion you might get whilst being visually drawn into his work."
The event coincides with Bishop Auckland's Full Moon Market, while local shops and businesses windows have been taken over by surreal street art created by graffiti collective Bish Vegas Legal Graff. There'll also be live music on the night from Runaway Samba and comedy from Los Skankos.
One of the founders of Bish Vegas Legal Graff, Dan Walls, said: " I have often thought how good it would be to explore his themes in a mundane and very accessible setting like a high street. Transferring surrealism and Dali’s imagery to street art and a graffiti style is going to be very interesting!"
In the run up to the event, there has also been eight surrealists art installations placed in Auckland Castle's Deer Park. Launched on October 22, the maps can be collected from Auckland Tower.
Jilly Jonhston, The Auckland Project's Transformative Arts Officer, said: " Dali: Surreal Worlds has been developed to offer a community-wide celebration of having this iconic painting at the Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland. It has been wonderful to offer so many children and young people the chance to explore the work of Dali and encourage them to embrace their imaginations and to look at art and life in a different way."
Dalí: Surreal Worlds will run from 4pm - 9pm in the centre of Bishop Auckland. For more information, visit the Auckland Project's website.
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