The Aims of Life Are the Best Defence Against Death

The Aims of Life Are the Best Defence Against Death

The Aims of Life Are the Best Defence Against Death

By: Paul Coldwell, 2000
Medium: cast bronze
Size: 102mm
Cast by: Crucible Foundry
Edition: 11

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Paul Coldwell is a sculptor and printmaker, with a particular interest in the integration of computers within fine art practice. His first solo exhibition was in the British Council Gallery in Nicosia in Cyprus in 1989, since when he has had shows in London and Dublin, including Freud’s Coat at the Freud Museum, London, in 1996 and at the Arthouse, Dublin, in 1999; his work has also been seen in exhibitions in Britain, Russia, Australia, and Korea. In 1995 he was artist in residence at the Olivar de Castillejo Foundation, Madrid, and in 1997 he was invited to attend the Oregon International Print Exhibition, and also the Ljubljana Biennial in Slovenia. His work is represented in the collections of the Arts Council of Great Britain, Birmingham City Museum, The British Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the New York Public Library, the Tate Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Recent prints were selected for the International Print Triennial in Cracow in Poland, and an exhibition on the theme of memory is to be shown at the Centenary Gallery of Camberwell College of Arts in October 2000. The artist writes: “My work over a number of years has been concerned with themes of journey and identity. My work for the Freud Museum focussed on Freud’s emigration to London, and I have made a body of work in response to Martin Bell’s final radio report from Bosnia for the BBC. I have been particularly moved by the way that conflicts impact on the individual, creating upheaval and displacement. In making this medal, I wanted to use the two sides to suggest this conflict: good/bad, life/death. “I was reading Primo Levi’s book, The drowned and the saved, which so powerfully tries to come to terms with the tragedy of the holocaust. One particular phrase from this book, ‘The aims of life are the best defence against death’, seemed to encapsulate the feelings that I was trying to realise. It seemed to indicate a certain basic practical strength, an instinct to survive that I wanted my medal to celebrate. “My medal juxtaposes on one face the image of a skeletal plane, a dark reminder of menace, with that of a house, which I felt indicated a sense of place, protection and life, indeed what constitutes a home. Around the edge is the text from Primo Levi which indicates the choice we must make. In making the medal, I brought together my practice as both a sculptor and printmaker and as an artist who uses computers as a creative tool. The images for the medal were worked on the computer and pixilated to suggest news photographs. A deeply etched plate was then made and wax cast from it. I then re-angled the house and plane throwing them into bas relief.”