THE ROOT OF SYMBOLİSM AS A METAPHOR FOR PLEASURE, PAİN, AND POLİTİCS: SALVADOR DALÍ'S SURREALİST FOOD PAİNTİNGS

In Dalí's introduction, he warned the reader: "If you are a slave to one of those calorie counters that turn the pleasure of eating into a kind of punishment, close this book immediately." "He's too lively, too aggressive, too brash for you." Chefs are creative when it comes to eating, and painters are creative when it comes to painting. In our work, we aim to take a look at the kitchens of the art world with surreal food ideas and paintings inspired by Salvador Dalí. Catalan Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí was a master not only in his craft but also in the art of party and table setting. Dali says, "Cooking is very close to painting. When we are busy making a meal, I add a little of this and a little of that, it's like painting." Salvador Dali, a lifelong admirer and self-proclaimed "motherly cook" at just six years old, eventually became an artist, but his fascination with the kitchen continued throughout his life. So when “Les Diners de Gala” was published in 1973, it was, quite literally, a dream come true for the surrealist artist who illustrated the book. The extraordinary cookbook, published only once in 1973, consisted of 136 recipes, along with extremely whimsical drawings and collages that Dalí created specifically for this publication. The original cookbook was printed only once. The strange cookbook can be divided into 12 chapters, with the 10th chapter devoted to aphrodisiacs. The cookbook was included considering both his passion for food and the artist's long-time girlfriend and wife, Gala. Like the artist's paintings, his recipes are designed to disgust and amuse at the same time. In addition to extraordinary illustrations, the book includes photographs of the artist consuming different foods or taking part in them. For Salvador Dalí, food was never just a source of nutrition. For the artist, food was full of subtle and often overlooked social and political meanings. Dalí used food as the root of symbolism and a metaphor for sex, pleasure, pain, and politics. Despite the 136 recipes contained in the aforementioned book, “Avocado Toast with Sheep Brains”, “Frog Cream” or “Veal Cutlets Stuffed with Snails” probably did not appeal to everyone's taste, but Salvador Dalí's utopian depictions, the socio-political structure of the 70s and strange recipe illustrations certainly It displays looks worth examining when transitioning from the studio to the dining table. The study titled The Root of Symbolism as a Metaphor for Pleasure, Pain and Politics: Salvador Dalí's Surrealist Food Paintings aims to evaluate Salvador Dali's relationship between visual arts and gastronomy through the examples in his book "Les Diners de Gala".