Bunk! Evadne in Green Dimension thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case MP, Shelf 141, Box A(i)

Bunk! Evadne in Green Dimension

Collage
1952 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Paolozzi made a series of collages in the 1950s, using material from his archive of advertisements and other images taken from magazines. He gave the title BUNK! to this series of collages. Using the visual language of the mass media, and dissecting and recombining material, he explored ideas about consumer culture and its complex layers of meaning. At this time Paolozzi was a member of the Independent Group, who were the precursors and originators of Pop Art in Britain. Paolozzi's BUNK! collages reflected the Independent Group'saim to "take Pop culture out of the realm of 'escapism', 'sheer entertainment', 'relaxation', and to treat it with the seriousness of art." [Lawrence Alloway, 'The Development of British Pop' quoted in Pop Art, Lucy R. Lippard et al, London 1966)


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBunk! Evadne in Green Dimension (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Collage, paper glue and string
Brief description
Collage by Eduardo Paolozzi: 'Bunk! Evadne in Green dimension', 1952
Physical description
Collage of a male body builder in leopard skin swimming trunks, holding his right arm up on which is an American 1940`s car, coming from his elbow is the text BUNK! in black on white, below that is a pencil drawing of a phalic symbol cut out with a woman in a swimsuit overlaid. Below that is a strawberry tart, and below the man is a blueberry pie, with large blueberry or plum next to it, all these images are on a pale dirty yellow ground, text in green of EVADNE IN GREEN DIMENSION 1945 below. Underneath is a decorative cut out of red, blue & white resembling the sea and waves.
Dimensions
  • From catalogue height: 25.6cm
  • From catalogue width: 17.6cm
Production typeUnique
Credit line
Given by the Artist
Object history
Group of collages (11) from a set of 46 (numbered 1-45) is reproduced as the portfolio of prints entitled 'Bunk'. Published in 1972 most are based on complete sheets from magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. A copy of the portfolio 'Bunk' is in the Department: Circ.517-561-1972.

Historical significance: The source material for the 'Bunk' portfolio, including these collages, was shown as a lecture given by Paolozzi to the newly formed Independent Group at the I.C.A in 1952 and as such was seminal in the history of Pop Art.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Paolozzi made a series of collages in the 1950s, using material from his archive of advertisements and other images taken from magazines. He gave the title BUNK! to this series of collages. Using the visual language of the mass media, and dissecting and recombining material, he explored ideas about consumer culture and its complex layers of meaning. At this time Paolozzi was a member of the Independent Group, who were the precursors and originators of Pop Art in Britain. Paolozzi's BUNK! collages reflected the Independent Group'saim to "take Pop culture out of the realm of 'escapism', 'sheer entertainment', 'relaxation', and to treat it with the seriousness of art." [Lawrence Alloway, 'The Development of British Pop' quoted in Pop Art, Lucy R. Lippard et al, London 1966)
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Paul Moorhouse Pop Art Portraits London: National Portrait Gallery Publications, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-85514-381-4.
  • P. 85 Paloma Alarcó, Francisco Calvo Serraller, Thomas Crow, Pop Art myths Madrid : Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2014. ISBN: 9788415113553
  • Taken from Departmental Circulation Register 1971
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.708-1971

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Record createdDecember 15, 2006
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