| From PS-Magazine.com Videos Master Piece of Surrealist Architect, Edward James: Las Pozas in the Sierra Madre Rain Forest By Editors choice of "inspirational" life (and video) Dec 1, 2007 - 2:36:22 PM
His intellectual interest in surrealism is demonstrated by his
sponsorship of "Minotaure", a lavish Surrealist magazine published in
Paris. His refurbishment of his home, Monkton House, close to West Dean
House, was a Surrealist dream. It included a large sofa to which Dalí
gave the form and colour of Mae West's lips. Edward also collaborated
with Dalí on the lobster telephone.
"He moved to Xilitla in Mexico from 1947,
where he was proud to be considered a 'brujo' (Spanish for 'wizard'), mainly to
grow orchids.
After the orchids were destroyed by a freak snowstorm in 1962, he decided to switch to
experiments in architecture, copying the plants in vast coloured concrete
structures that could never die. He gave his English estate at West Dean to a
charitable trust in 1964. In November 2007 the government of San Luis Potosí
celebrates the centenary of his birth." Edward James was also a poet and writer, producing his own works,
setting up a publishing house and launching John Betjeman's first book
of verse. A fan of ballet, he helped finance a series of Balanchine
productions. Later in his life he created a series of surreal concrete
constructions at his Mexican estate, Xilitla. The palaces, temples,
pagodas and fountains, populated with exotic creatures such as
flamingos and boa constrictors, are a testament to his vivid but
unconventional imagination. Edward also had a strong affinity with trees and was an avid orchid
collector. He died in 1984 and it is fitting that he is buried in the
arboretum where he also kept his golden pheasants. His Cumbrian slate
grave stone is inscribed with the simple words Edward James, Poet
1907-1984. The above are extracts from
Wikipedia, and from
Edward James foundation, a charitable
trust, housed at West Dean Estate, an area of outstanding natural beauty in
south-east England. It is a unique community, a creative and rich mixture of artists and
craftspeople, conservators and restorers, working alongside gardeners, farmers,
foresters and builders. PS-Magazine.com and MerlianNews.com About PS Magazine l Terms |
Edward James was born in 1907 into a world of privilege. He inherited the West Dean Estate on the untimely death of his father in 1912.