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The Paolozzi Mosaics

Grid Reference:    

SP 04139 67422

Description:

The Paolozzi Mosaics which are twelve huge panels each measuring 21 x 10 are located upon the four walls of Milward Square in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre, Redditch. They were unveiled by Sir William Rees-Mogg (Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain) on 19th April 1983. They provided the backdrop for the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in July of that year.

Significance:

The most significant public art in the West Midlands is here in Redditch and probably the most important modern art outside of a metropolitan area in the UK

History:

Funds were also made available from the Arts Council of Great Britain, whose �Arts in Public Places� scheme assisted the commissioning of works of art throughout the country �for the benefit of the public at large�, especially in non-metropolitan areas far from other centres of modern art. The idea was �to inform a non-specialist public of the virtues of contemporary British art� or to bring an art gallery to the people, rather than vice-versa.

Until the mid-twentieth century much of Britain�s public art had taken the form of statues commemorating local worthies, or edifices celebrating local or national events. Therefore, not surprisingly, the first thoughts of the Redditch Development Corporation were to commission a �modern� figurative sculpture or statue. However, practicalities, the durability of the materials, and the need to navigate safely around a free-standing object in a busy public space, led to the decision to confine the proposed work to the wall surfaces above the shop fascias. A brief was subsequently prepared, stipulating �a feature/artwork related to the historically primary industry within Redditch, namely, needles�. Eduardo Paolozzi was approached, and he soon accepted the commission.

Paolozzi was given the freedom to interpret the brief of relating the mosaics to the needle industry in his own terms, and declared that the needle industry theme ran through all twelve panels in the form of a multi-evocative metaphor, floating in some cases against woven material, symbolizing the uses and results of the needle in its widest sense � a vital tool for the uniting of many substances in both a global and metaphysical sense�.

Paolozzi produced and selected the images for each of the twelve panels which were drawn individually, hand-coloured, and then put through a Xerox machine to regularise the colours used. They were then cut out and collaged onto sheets to form the individual panels, and the pattern sheets were sent to Spilimbergo, northern Italy  a town with a mosaic-making tradition dating back two centuries. The Italian glass tiles have �extreme permanence�, and they will retain their brilliance in perpetuity � meaning that the need for maintenance and cleaning is minimal.

Paolozzi chose the exact glass tile colours to be used, in consultation with a resident mosaic artist. A master pattern was made for each panel and each colour was coded for assembly. Interlocking numbered sheets were individually hand-made and numbered following the patterns, and the sheets were used for fixing and grouting the panels. It took three craftsmen, based in Birmingham but originally from Spilimbergo, two weeks to install the work.

If you look closely at this image you can see Paolozzi himself in the bottom left of the image back in 1983 admiring his own work.

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