Greed, power, fortune: Money. A dollar bill is just a piece of paper. Easily torn, yet it remains strong and in control.
Art becomes the new currency for the Dali Museum’s Avida Dollars design contest.
Avida Dollars is a nickname given to Salvador Dali as an insult by Andre Breton, the founder of Surrealism. The nickname is an anagram for Salvador Dali, translating to “Greedy Dollars.”
Dali embraced the nickname, often referring to himself as Avida Dollars and using the money metaphor in his artwork. He twisted the taunt by turning it into a term for creativity.
What do you think Avida Dollars would look like?
Avida Dollars designs will be judged to see which would most likely be currency in the surreal world.
The winner of the contest will also receive $500 from the Dali Education Department and reproductions of the winner’s Avida Dollars design will be used as tickets to a lecture by Andrei Codrescu, an art and politics commentator on NPR’s All Things Considered, and an author and founder of Exquisite Corpse.
Codrescu’s lecture will be held on Sept. 24 to celebrate the official launch of the Dali Museum’s online magazine En Garde! as well as discussing the value of creativity.
If you enter:
The contest is only open to USF St. Petersburg students. Entries will be exhibited in the Student Gallery at the Dali Museum.
- All artwork must fit a standard 8”x10” frame
- 3D works cannot be accepted
- Physical submissions only
Deadline: August 10, 2015
For submission form, email Education Coordinator Bethany Mead: bmead@thedali.org
