Accession Number
2000/2.11.7

Title
Sun City

Artist(s)
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi

Artist Nationality
British (modern)

Object Creation Date
1967

Medium & Support
screenprint on paper

Dimensions
40 3/16 in x 26 9/16 in (102.08 cm x 67.47 cm);46 1/16 in x 33 1/16 in (117 cm x 83.98 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Diane M. Kirkpatrick

Subject matter
As one of the founders of the Independent Group, Paolozzi was an early British Pop artist. This series of ten prints came after his travels in California, where he visited tourist sites like Disneyland, Frederick's of Hollywood, and Paramount Studios, as well as centers of technology: UC Computer Center, Standord's Linear Accelerator center, Douglas Aircraft Company and the GM Assembly Plant in Hayward. The combination of imagery from popular culture and the technological imagery of dot matrixes and circuit boards creates a stage in which art and science can be in dialogue. The children's imagery of the toys and the toy-like airplanes at the top of the print, combined with the image of satellites in space, creates a vision of the new world of the Atomic Age. In addition, the text at the base of the print describes a possibly fictional plaza where a series of brothels cater to American G.I.s, giving the whole scene a sense of parody. 

Physical Description
Very colorful print with a series of panels, each with a different design. Some panels are just colorful patterns, while others have recognizable objects. At the top, there is a pink rondel with a photograph of a satellite over earth. Next to the rondel, there are five planes (three black and two white), alternating in direction. At the center of the image to the left, there is a panel with an image of a stuffed cat, clown, lemur, and bunny. At the bottom of the print, there is a series of cubes made up of tan grids that end, at the right, in a rainbow-colored bulls eye. Below this, there is text in black that reads, "SUN CITY. Normally An Kae Plaza, the official destination of the 30 - odd bar - brothels is a rollicking but strictly - policed mayhem. The garishly - painted bars, with their backroom "boom - boom emporiums" have been built on three sides of the concrete clock square. / Military police patrol the area checking passes and I.D. cards. Never ending vapour trails of giant cargo transports criss cross the yellow sky. So anxious is the An Kae Plaza buisness community to comply with regulations that recently boom - boom operators offered to / purchase a brand new X-ray machine for the hospital. "So far everything has been on the strictly business basis, but sure as hell some shell - shocked Joe is going to fall in love down here." (News item.) / JUNE 1967". Print is signed and dated in pencil (l.r.) "Eduardo Paolozzi A/P 1967".

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
airplanes
artificial satellites
artists' proofs
circuit boards
portfolios (groups of works)
screen prints
stuffed toys