Paolozzi at Large in Edinburgh

About the Book: 

Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) was one of the greatest Scottish and European artists of the 20th Century. He was a prolific sculptor and printmaker as well as an inspirational teacher. His was an exceptional talent, drawing on culture in all its forms, from Classical myths to comics and ephemera. Most would agree he was the originator of the Pop Art movement.

He was born in Edinburgh into an immigrant Italian family who ran an ice cream shop in Albert Street, Leith. There was no ‘silver spoon’ or patronage available; only ingenuity and dedication.

Despite having lived and worked in the cosmopolitan art worlds of London, Paris, Berlin, New York and Osaka, his native city is where you will find not only some of his most arresting work but also a demonstration of the breadth of his creativity: from colossal bronzes to subtle stained glass. Although some of his work is archived in the University of Edinburgh, or held privately, most is displayed as public art or exhibited in the National Galleries.

Paolozzi at Large in Edinburgh is an homage to this inestimable treasure inherited by the city. The inspiration for it has been Paolozzi’s unique way of making art as a ceaseless creative process, as a 'constant re-invention' of a 'world at large'. Reflecting the artist’s multifaceted approach, the book contains a vibrant combination of responses to his revolutionary oeuvre, in particular the Edinburgh masterpieces. These tributes include new poems in English with Italian translations, informed commentaries and responsive artworks.

About the Author:

CHRISTINE DE LUCA was born in Shetland in 1947. She moved to Edinburgh to study, where she worked there as an educationalist. De Luca writes in both English and Shetlandic. Her poems appear in several anthologies including the Scottish multicultural anthology Wish I Was Here (pocketbooks, 2000). She has recently taken part in the international poetry festival in Helsinki. Christine has had poems published in Ice-Floe (International Poetry of the Far North), and has featured in Transcript, the European internet review of books and writing. She has recently been commissioned to translate some of her Shetlandic poems for "The Online Magazine for International Literature", Words Without Borders, 2004.

CARLO PIROZZI is currently a Teaching Fellow at the Italian Department of the University of Edinburgh. His main research interests are language teaching methodologies, Diaspora Studies (in particular, Italian migration to Scotland), contemporary Italian poetry and literature and the visual and performing arts. He is the coordinator of the ‘Italo-Scottish Research Cluster’ at the University of Edinburgh. In addition to this, he initiates and develops creative interdisciplinary projects involving Universities, public and private cultural institutions, as well as collaborations between artists from Scotland and Italy.