Turing Suite, numbers 1 and 2; numbers 3 and 4; numbers 5 and 6; numbers 8 and 9 by Eduardo Paolozzi; serigraph; artist’s proof iii/xx (edition of 50), 2000
Paolozzi, a leading figure in post-war British art, explored the interface between human identity and machine logic through a blend of Surrealism and Pop Art. In the Turing Suite, he created layered visual ‘portraits’ of Alan Turing, using text from biographies and art theory to explore differing ways of representing the human form.
These prints reflect Paolozzi’s long-standing fascination with computers and the legacy of Turing’s pioneering work.
Acquired with the support of Academy Fellows: Lord Broers, Sir David Davies, Sir Duncan Michael, Dr John Forrest and Sir Jack Zunz
For more about this major British artist click here.
Alan Turing
Turing was a British mathematician, logician, and cryptographer whose work laid the foundations of computer science. He proposed the universal Turing machine, a theoretical model that can read and execute any set of instructions, allowing it to simulate the behaviour of any other computing machine. He also introduced the Turing Test, a method for assessing whether a machine can exhibit human-like intelligence.
During the Second World War, Turing’s codebreaking work was vital to defeating the German Enigma cypher, a complex code system used by Nazi Germany to encrypt military communications.
For more on Alan Turing click here.