Collage has been at the forefront of the digital revolution, if not for the final results, then for the method, a way of mixing images and texts via computer manipulation. Like music sampling (hip hop and rap), multiple sources can be "glued" together to create something extremely new and strange. The dadaists seized on the methods employed by Picasso and Braque, and the surrealists made a living out of collage to great and what appears to be everlasting effect. It can be argued that collage is perhaps the preeminent art method of the 20th and 21st centuries. Modern masters like Joseph Cornell and Ray Johnson created some of the most memorable collages, with the later extending his signature methods into pretty much all aspects of his life and art.
Just out is the new fat volume on the subject by
Black Dog Publishing / UK : Collage Assembling Contemporary Art. With known experts Sally O’Reilly, Ian Monroe, David Lillington and John Stezaker among the contributors, the hardcover 240 page color book retails for £35.00.
According to Black Dog Publishing: "Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art is a striking and authoritative survey of the history of collage, from its origins through to the work being produced by artists today. (Image, THE PEOPLE,
Matthew Rose, right).
With contemporary artists reclaiming the form, collage is flourishing. From the traditional ‘cut and paste’ method through to digital, three dimensional and installation work, and in the incorporation of contemporary concerns such as environment and commercialism, collage is experiencing an exciting renaissance.
First gaining popularity in the early 1900s, with such pieces as Picasso’s The Dream in 1908 and Still Life with Chair Caning in 1912, collage has proliferated though the ages. From figures such as Kurt Schwitters, to works by the Constructivists, Dadaists, and Surrealists, to 1960s and 70s Pop Art, the form has branched out into a myriad of fine art practice that encompasses assemblage, montage, and décolage. Collage draws together the work of influential artists to contextualize the art being produced today.
Collage features the art of such internationally acclaimed artists as Picasso, Schwitters and Ernst, Hannah Hoch, Marta Rosler, John Stezaker, Richard Hamilton, Layla Curtis, David Salle, Eduardo Poalozzi, Javier Rodriguez, Robert Rauschenberg, David Thorpe, Fred Tomaselli,
Matthew Rose and many more.
"Parents will have an enjoyable time reading this to their toddlers and trying to figure out why Ditzy, the deaf-as-a-door knob dog, is always digging and dancing," says Ruscoe who has two little boys. "My favorite is Nero the Nail, or maybe Romney's Rain – "Hey! Don't Complain!"
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