The Salvador Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, FL

Today I went to the Salvaor Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL. For some reason, this small city houses one of the greatest collections of his renown art in the world.

The place must have good friends.

Dali, a founder of surrealism, managed to incorporate sensuality and Christianity into his works in a way that no one else had probably ever dared, or cared, to do.

Many of his most famous works are here, including "The First Days of Spring." This has something to do with his father...the guy had issues I guess.

Like many artists, Dali sometimes got political. Here is his "Geopoliticus Child Watching The Birth of the New Man," where one can easily see the image of Africa.

"Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory" is somewhat a sequel of his famous painting "Persistence of Memory," housed in New York's Museum of Modern Art. In this painting, according to its description nearby, this painting shows the world altered by the nuclear age.

Duh.

When someone's work becomes iconic, one tends to think that's all there is. I had no idea that Dali also dabbled in sculpture, like this "Lobster Telephone." Man, you have to be on drugs to get some of this.

When you see Dali's work in New York, which include some of his most famous pieces, you are left with the impression that all of his work is smaller than you thought it was when looking at it in a book. Paintings like "The Ecumenical Council" blow this away. This photo does not do it justice (this does a better job -- and yes that is Dali on the lower left hand corner). It is a massive, although in some cases ego-centric, painting that combines sex appeal with his Catholic faith. It actually goes and compliments the church.

Man, when was the last time you saw a painter compliment the Catholic Church?

The Dali museum here in Florida is a must see. In fact, it's worth flying to the Tampa area to see...especially if you were once a rebellious-burnout-pseudo-intellectual in college and want to recapture that feeling for a day.