Guillaume Arnoud, owner of UWANTART gallery and the man behind the China’s largest exhibition of Salvador Dalí works, makes Shanghai a little more surreal.

We’re very excited about the upcoming Dalí exhibition. What should we see first?

One of the highlights is Dalí’s mesmerizing original oil painting, “Spellbound,” created for the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. We’ve organized the exhibition into three themes to show his world of religion and mythology, fantasy and dream and, of course, sensuality. We’re also featuring the world’s largest grouping of Dalí sculptures. Visitors will take an unforgettable tour of over 350 works.

Beyond paintings, Dalí had intriguing pieces like the Mae West Lips sofa and a lobster telephone. Will these be shown? Yes, both original pieces. Magic!

But why display Dalí in Shanghai now? 2009 is the 20-year anniversary of his death. It’s a key date. Also I think Shanghai needs a little bit of controversy, a bit of madness. And it will happen just before World Expo 2010, when the world will come to Shanghai.

Dalí once said about Mao Zedong, “This man is a poet, and I will illustrate his poems.” Actually, we have Dalí’s illustrated poems of Mao. They’re very visionary.

Where and when is the Dalí exhibition? Starting July 31 at 3pm, the entire exhibition will show at the Shanghai Art Museum. The second phase, running from September 5, will be at UWANTART. This is more of a selling exhibition. The third phase will be at the Shanghai Art Fair, where we will show a portion of the exhibition.

Fellow surrealists rejected him. Why is he still so popular today? He was not rejected by everybody. Dalí, you either love or hate, but he didn’t care. He never minded controversy. What don’t people know about Dalí? What people don’t know is what Dalí really had in mind. He’s the one person you cannot catch.

What’s Dalí’s most enduring contribution? Well ... madness. Madness.

Find It Shanghai Art Museum, ¥20 for admission; UWANTART