"Medici Princess", Joseph Cornell, 1948, Assemblage
When I started announcing my upcoming collage show in June, I got many strange looks from folks. Collaging – “What’s that?” they asked. I usually began with well… in French “colle” means “to glue”… . Long story short, collaging can be as simple as taking pieces paper (new or old) and sticking them with some type of glue onto a 2D or 3D surface. Many of you may recall doing this as kids in grade school for craft projects or language arts assignments. Collaging, however, can be much more sophisticated than this. Thanks to its user-friendly relation to other art mediums such as painting, drawing, sewing, writing, etc., collage has been making a stunning comeback. Magazines such as Somerset Studio or Cloth Paper Scissors as well as a whole slew of how-to- books and courses (on-line and off) have cornered a sizeable piece of the market. Did you know that collaging is as old as the hills? It can be traced back to the continents of: Asia, Africa, the Middle East as well as Europe and America. For the better part of the twentieth century, popular artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Salvador Dali used it to further expand their painting. My first collagist hero, Joseph Cornell, developed his work into shrine-like worlds called “assemblages” for his favourite topics and movie star idols. I truly believe, when embarking upon the journey of discovering collage, it doesn’t hurt to become acquainted with the art history of the medium. Now I’m quite sure I can hear some of you groaning but keep in mind, the language of collage has been used in the last century in so many novel ways – through scrapbooks, photography, painting, collage novels, printing (the list goes on). Investigating, even briefly, the ways other artists have explored this medium will do you good and provide you with so much fodder for your own work. Gerald Brommer has written a wonderful book you may want to review: Collage Techniques: A Guide for Artists and Illustrators. New York, New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1994. His brief and exciting references of collage works as well as techniques are a great way to become acquainted with this medium. Here’s a list of 6 collage artists to explore in the fine art world, perhaps you may find one you share a connection with — if you do, I’d love to hear from you.
Hannah Hoch (social commentary)
Max Ernst (collage novels)
Joseph Cornell (3d collage/assemblage works)
David Hockney (photo collages)
Barbara Kruger (social commentary on the fashion world)
Betye Saar (African-American heritage assemblage)
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