Eduardo Paolozzi: A Founder of British Pop Art

Eduardo Paolozzi - Jesus colour by numbers, from General Dynamic F.U.N - 1970 - 15 x 10 in. - Photolithograph on paper - Art Institute of Chicago (click photo for larger image)Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) was a prolific and inventive British artist most known for his synthesis of Surrealism’s principles and new elements of popular culture, modern machinery and technology. “He was raised in the shadows of World War II in a family deeply affected by the divisive nature of a country involved in conflict, which birthed his lifelong exploration into the many ways humans are influenced by external, uncontrollable forces. This exploration would come to inform a vast and various body of work that vacillated between the darker and lighter consequences of society's advancements and its so-called progress.”

Most people associate Pop Art with American popular culture. Its seeds, however, go back to a group of artists in London (the Independent Group) that began meeting regularly in 1954 to discuss topics such as mass culture's place in fine art, the found object, and science and technology.