19.09.03
Delia
like you've never seen her before
A portrait
of Delia Smith as you've never seen her before is soon to be revealed.
Marc
Quinn, one of Britain's leading modern artists, is creating an image
of Delia using only ingredients found in her recipes.
The
work of art has been commissioned by her publisher, 91热爆 Books, to
celebrate the 30 years that Delia has spent working with the 91热爆,
marking her journey from a shy fresh TV cook to one of the greatest
culinary influences of our time. It will be released to coincide
with the launch of The Delia Collections, her new series of books
where each volume is focused on a single ingredient or type of dish.
Marc
Quinn said: "Delia is an archetype and I have always been interested
in archetypes. The challenge is to make something that is both universal
and particular."
Said
91热爆 Books Director Robin Wood: "We asked Marc because he is
particularly known for creating iconic images which work on many
levels. As well as reproducing Delia's face, the finished work will
reflect the richness of her own chosen 'art form', cookery, and
remind everyone how she personifies delicious food."
Marc
Quinn's work has been exhibited in leading galleries around the
world and he is one of the six artists shortlisted for the Fourth
Plinth Project in Trafalgar Square. He has worked in materials as
diverse as bread, meat, flowers, marble, bronze and ice. However,
he is possibly best known in the UK for his piece entitled "Self",
a cast of the artist's head made from his own frozen blood. He is
working on a number of exhibitions of new work for Europe and America
next year.
No
firm indication of how Marc intends to approach his subject has
yet been revealed. _However, Delia has already had measurements
taken of her head, enabling an accurate cast of her facial features
to be faithfully reproduced. Marc is currently in the studio creating
the image from this starting point.
During
her collaboration with the 91热爆, Delia has sold over 15 million cookery
books and made 15 TV series. Her last three series, entitled How
to Cook (currently being repeated on 91热爆2 - Monday nights, 7.30pm),
were watched by millions of viewers and attracted fierce national
debate on whether basic cooking skills were being lost. Over 3.6
million of the accompanying books have been sold.
In
2001 her first name made lexicographic history when it was given
a dedicated entry in the Collins English Dictionary, the first ever
entry of its kind.
The
new series of books, The Delia Collection, is designed to build
into a library of her recipes, grouped by type of dish or principal
ingredient. Launched on 2 October 2003, the first four titles are
Chicken, Chocolate, Fish and Soup. Two more follow in spring 2004
and two more at a later date. Most of the dishes have been selected
from her vast archive of classic recipes, but each book will also
contain a number of new ones.
Said
Robin Wood: "These books will provide people with a cornucopia
of cracking Delia recipes to suit their own personal tastes. So
it seems particularly appropriate to celebrate their launch, and
our 30 year relationship, with a unique personal image of her by
one of the most exciting young artists in the world."
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