COLLAGE BY BLACK DOG PUBLISHING

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.

Days Like These : Carte de Rencontre No. 7

La Carte de Rencontre No. 7, limited edition of 1000, just published and distributed in Paris, is from a series of surrealist collages entitled, "Days Like These". Like the six preceeding it, Carte No. 7 is perforated in two, like a pair of large stamps. Distributed for free use, la carte is friendly, useful and engaging. A paper machine: "engagement marketing."



Art & Commerce
Lalande Digital Art Press is now working with cafés, restaurants, bars and clubs who want their own Carte de Rencontre, branded with their name, logo, image. Rencontre - Raconter: Taking word of mouth to a new level. Bouche à l'oreille à la carte.

La Carte de Recontre cible des publics variés : les boîte de nuist, les bars, les restaurants, les jeunes, les professionels, tous les tranches de public parisien; on peut changer les images par rapport vos marques, et les designs et messages, tous les mois (ou chaque semaine) pour mieux viser votre programme de publicité. Et la Carte de Rencontre n'est pas cher. Laissez nous vous faire une Carte de Rencontre. Contactez LALANDE et on peut commencer maintenant.

A La Carte Postale

When I made my first post card for a 1990 exhibition in an abandoned shoe store in my home town in New York, I was slightly terrified. I had serious doubts about this enterprise. Why? I was very unsure of the marketing end of my art-making activity. Was it good enough? Too amateur? Who did I think I was to make a card? "Get over it," I told myself. "You're on your own."

I eventually chose a self-portrait standing next to one of my silhouette "baby" collages, made a photocopy, printed out a short text, and designed a page using tape and glue to hold it all in place. These were the days before scanners, digital cameras and USB keys. But I could produce decent-looking type on the Mac SE and my laster printer. When I began handing and mailing out these cards, I quickly understood the power and value of producing printed material myself. No one was going to do it for me.

That same year I wrote a feature piece for Art & Antiques magazine about artist-produced invitations, touching upon Duchamp's crumpled "readymades" sent through the mail for Julien Levy's Surrealism show, Yoko Ono's disappearing cards, Yves Klein's blue stamp for "Le Vide" at Iris Clert in Paris in 1959 (below, worth some 4000 euros) and dozens of other innovative designs that were works of art themselves. My "Immaculate Perception" collage on the invitation for the Berlin exhibition "Herzschmerz" in 2006, inaugurated Gallery Tristesse Deluxe. The image of a girl in a lemon tree went all over Berlin. [The original was purchased by French artist Eric Michel.]

Not only do these paper works – whether catalogs, post cards, posters or large-format prints – contribute to the sense of a personal history, they also reinforce an aesthetic direction. After printing more than 50 or so different cards for myself, I now work closely with artists and store owners embarking on the same trajectory. I've encouraged them to embrace the "do-it-yourself" ethic. Make postcards. Put them – and yourself – in the world. Allow people to have a compelling image and message in their pocket, on their refridgerator or bedroom wall or in their office. Give them two; they can give one to a friend.

Post cards serve as an appetizer as well as a travelling, portable art show. Send them to Beijing or Oslo, The Tate, or the Museum of Modern Art in New York (nothing mailed to MoMA is thrown out). Post cards are limited editions – tiny, inexpensive works of art. Printed in quantities ranging from 1 to 2,000, these printed rectangles, ephemeral in nature, dot one's history in a familiar and friendly way, but also generate value and interest in all directions, particularly when the original art work has already been sold. A cancelled stamp on it gives the post card a bit more history. Duchamp's invitation for Julien Levy's Surrealism show – a crumpled poster stuffed into an envelope is a sought-after collectible work of art. His "Rectified Readymade," his French pun – L.H.O.O.Q. – on the Mona Lisa from 1919 is an icon of modern art. It began its life as a post card of yet another icon.

Creative and graphic efforts that issue from the launch of an exhibition, restaurant, boutique (or even your blog) go down in history, and sometimes up in value. Those little squares of paper end up creating the biggest sensation. Ms. Glaze, a four-star chef sensation and video star as well as friend of Lalande offered me one of her amazing dishes in a digital version for this postcard promotion, "A La Carte Postale," targetting restaurants and bistros in Paris.

I tell all Lalande clients taking their first steps in printing that the post card has great power and potential – a small work that speaks when you're not around. Send me your images and comments about your post cards: E-mail or call: 01 53 68 16 10. We want to know how you became famous.

Collage By Stephanie Jenny

We made some posters and postcards for artist Stephanie Jenny, the adorable babe at Zango on the Rue Daguerre in the 14th. She launched her art career in June with the Portes Ouvertes along the Butte aux Cailles (in the 13th arrondisement), opening up her studio during a weekend art fest. Stephanie hung about 30 works and sold nearly a third of them, including this one. For her postcard, we isolated a section of a larger canvas, and used a digital photo of the entire piece in black and white on the back for a "stamp."

We love working with artists and offering whatever know-how and marketing we can offer so they get the exposure and traffic they're looking for. "Put your images out there," I told her. "You're the star." I suppose she thought about that for a day or so, but when she had the posters and cards in hand, she quickly laid the groundwork for a successful exhibition: Stephanie put up the 25 A3-sized posters in local shops and cafés where she lives, just off La Butte.

Well, they came, they saw, (probably drank), and they bought and some bought two! She has the eye, the scissor + glue skills, and the ebuillient temperament needed to make a go of it. Stephanie undoubtedly raising her prices for her show this September.