Pig or Person, it’s the same, Fortune plays a funny game
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi ; Richard Davis; Editions Alecto
Description
Subject Matter:
Like many of his contemporaries, Paolozzi used new printmaking technologies as a way to engage with modern mass media's new visual culture. At the same time, the photomechanical process made the work look mechanically manufactured rather than hand made, in the traditional artistic sense. Therefore, when he modified, transformed, assemped the source image(s), the medium would allow for a more uniform final image.
This print is one of a large series of 50 prints included in the 1970 portfolio, which was a second edition of the an earlier group of slightly larger prints titled "Moonstrips Empire News." While the first series was strictly produced as screenprints, this second series "General Dynamic F.U.N." includes works, like this one, of photolithography. The themes seen in this portfolio are different in style and subject matter than other Pop works of the period, but still engage with the images of a modern mass media, looking beyond just advertising and publicity images. Likewise, the title of the portfolio alludes to the General Dynamics Corporation, who was the manufacturer of the F-111 fighter used during the Vietnam War—the same one referenced in James Rosenquist monumental painting "F-111."
The satire at play in the title can also be seen in this complex, collaged scene that visually juxtaposes consumer luxuries with war. Frivolity and violence play off one another to create an uncomfortable scene of contemporary life, where fashion models and gala attendees seem blissfully unaware of the tragedy occuring in the scenes of war and the destruction illustrated by the car pile-up at the bottom right.
Physical Description:
On a vertically-oriented page, with printed image extending to the borders of the page, there are various scenes and images combined together. There are two main registers. On the bottom, there is a collaged image of a woman putting on lipstick at the beach, and the rear end of a classic car to the right. To the left, there are two smaller frames: on top there is an urban street scene collaged with demolished cars, and on the bottom there is a single scene of a fashion office orstudio with three women. In the top register, there are four main frames. On the right, the largest scene in the print, there is an image of a soldier with a handgun collaged with an image of a small child with a soldier's helmet on his head. The boy holds a bucket. To the left, there are three smaller images, each showing a man and a woman in varying degrees of fancy dress. The overall scene is printed in a vibrant orange color.
Usage Rights:
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