Art Seen: Thousands attended the opening of Dali: The Late Work

• “Dali’s Mustache” by Philippe Halsman
• 3,534 people?! Damn!

Clearly I was out of mind to think that last Saturday’s Surreal Soiree, an opening party for Dali: The Late Work at the High with a wearable-art fashion show by local artists including Sister Louisa, R.Land, Andy Moon Wilson, Lucha Rodriguez, Cooper Sanchez, Kelly Teasley, and HC Warner among others, would be low key.

My sister and I made plans to go together. Since the event was scheduled to start at 8 p.m., we figured we could roll up around 8:30 p.m., maybe grab some street parking and head in. Wrong. Sooooo wrong. As we approached the High heading north on Peachtree, we began to make out a mass of bodies on the sidewalk. “Is that the line?” my sister asked. “No way. ... Well, wait, is it?” I said.

We immediately grabbed a spot in a deck across from the High and headed over. It turned out that the crowd we’d seen from the car was, in fact, part of a long, well-dressed queue snaking from the museum’s plaza-side entrance, around the courtyard, down the steps past Table 1280 and extending out into the sidewalk on Peachtree. The line was for ticket holders and ticket needers alike. My sis already had a ticket, and since I was on the press list we were able to scoot around the masses inside to the security desk. (I know, I know, but hey, this job’s got some perks...).

(Photos and more after the jump.)