Making Steel Surreal: Secret Dali Sculpture Revealed!

A few weeks ago, we excitedly announced that our team was working with the internationally-known artist, Donald Gialanella, and the Dali Museum to create a one-of-a-kind sculpture. Now, that sculpture has been revealed and we are excited to give you a behind-the-scenes look at Gialanella’s process!

Dali’s Memorable Mustache Comes to Life

While Gialanella’s sculpture was kept hush-hush, his work is now one of two new permanent installations at the Dali Museum in beautiful St. Petersburg. The Dali Museum wanted a permanent interpretation of Dali’s infamous mustache, so they turned to Gialanella. The result? A 17-foot long landmark sculpture.

The team at Tampa Steel was overjoyed to work with Gialanella on this project and provided the artist with the proper materials to create a piece of art that was both stunning and durable. To ensure the sculpture’s longevity, we supplied Gialanella with quarter-inch Corten weathering steel, cut via water jetting. This amazingly precise method uses 65,000 psi of water pressure to cut through steel and other strong materials. By combining intense water pressure and garnet, this technology allows us to cut steel with incredible integrity and accuracy.

Browse the gallery of behind-the-scenes shots below.

Have you seen the new Dali sculpture yet? If not, you can see the memorable mustache at The Dali Museum, located at One Dalí Boulevard, St. Petersburg. For information, call 727-823-3767 or visit TheDa­li.or­g.