Head of Invention

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“Head of Invention” by Eduardo Paolozzi, 1989
Butler's Wharf
London, October 2009

“For more than twenty-five years, the Head of Invention sculpture has been a familiar sight for our visitors. It was first installed outside the museum’s Shad Thames building in 1990 and was transferred to Kensington in 2016 when the museum reopened in the old Commonwealth Institute building. The sculpture was created by Eduardo Paolozzi, one of the most important artists to emerge out of Britain during the post-war era. It was commissioned by the Design Museum’s founder, Sir Terence Conran, to commemorate the opening of the museum in 1989. But this was more than just a straightforward commission, nor was it a bland commercial transaction. Rather, the commissioning of the Head of Invention was one part of a lifelong collaboration and friendship between Paolozzi and Conran. Their careers had different paths, but it’s nonetheless fascinating to trace the ways in which their lives overlapped and to see how they worked together.” (Head of Invention, The Design Museum)