Dali carved onion - surreal artist (8,2,5)
I believe the answer is:
leonardo da vinci
'artist' is the definition.
(Leonardo da Vinci is an example)
'dali carved onion surreal' is the wordplay.
'surreal' is an anagram indicator.
'dali'+'carved'+'onion'='dalicarvedonion'
'dalicarvedonion' anagrammed gives 'LEONARDO DA VINCI'.
(Other definitions for leonardo da vinci that I've seen before include "famous Italian" , "Renowned painter" , "artist ..." , "Mona Lisa painter" , "He painted" .)