Contemporary collage "changing like a chameleon..."

"One of the exciting things about collage is its primary use of discarded paper media which ultimately keeps it in motion, constantly changing like a chameleon. A quick look at the diversity of styles, concepts and technique found in contemporary collage proves it’s moved well beyond simply cut paper and glue.

I suspect many artists find it alluring for not only its immediacy but its unique and inherent nature to reinvent the familiar into something mysteriously new. Collage also has a long history of integrating itself in to political and cultural movements so it seems natural there’s a collage revival happening in these uncertain times."

— from an interview with "All That Remains" exhibition curator Charles Wilkin, posted to the Hyperallergic blog by Hrag Vartanian.

I couldn't agree more with the thoughts expressed in the interview. Opportunities to look at collage are increasing in galleries, museums -- and wonderfully, also online. 

Collage works from the "All That Remains" show are available for viewing here. The exhibition is an international one, curated by Wilkin, and on view at Picture Farm in Brooklyn, New York through November 19, 2011.

To peruse even more collage, consider visiting the 27th Annual National Collage Society exhibition site, viewable online here. (I have one in there somewhere...)

Image above, included for its chameleon-like coloration, is: "Composure," collage on paper, 10 x 8." © 2001, Janice McDonald.

Juried into National Collage Society exhibition

"Remembrance," paper collage on wood panel, 10 x 10 x 1." © 2011, Janice McDonald.

Hooray! I was pleased to learn that my collage, "Remembrance," has been juried into the 27th Annual National Collage Society Exhibition.

The exhibit will be viewable online from November 1, 2011 to October 31, 2012. When I have a link to the exhibition site, I'll be back to post it here. It's always a good survey of collagists, methods, and approaches. (Happily, I'm on a roll... my work was also included in last year's exhibition.)

NOTE (added 11.1.11): The 2011 exhibition is now viewable here.

Collage and choreography collaboration

Choreographer Patricia Renzetti visited my exhibition at Spark Gallery this spring and was attracted to a small, experimental collage work on paper. She immediately could visualize it as the background for a dance she was working on. I was enchanted with the idea of seeing the work so LARGE."Budding," contemporary collage on paper, 8 x 8." © 2011, Janice McDonald."Budding" is simple -- only 8 x 8 inches, composed of just four pieces of paper, ripped from a magazine, and glued onto a white page. To better work with the horizontal proportions of the stage, the collage was scanned and the black paper element was cloned and manipulated to extend the "ground" to about twice as long as the original. The resulting digital file will be used to project the image onto the backdrop.Our collaboration will be premiered this weekend when Delusions of Grandeur Productions presents "Eternal Dialogue" at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, Colorado (August 19th and 20th at 7:30pm) and also the following weekend at Su Teatro Denver Civic Theatre in Denver (August 27th at 7:30pm).The piece is entitled "Reflections" with music by Arvo Part for cello and piano. I hope to eventually have a photograph of the dancers moving in front of the collage to post here.My daughter is a very accomplished dancer and I have a fondness for all things dance... however this is the first time MY work will be presented on the stage. I'm very excited to see how it will come together at a live performance!

Enthusiastic about "Reclamation"

As you might imagine, I have a penchant for artwork that incorporates recycled and repurposed materials.

After having it on my "must see" list for most of the summer, I finally got to the "Reclamation" exhibition at Metro State College of Denver's Center for Visual Art. If you are local, it's on view through August 13th (2011) and worth a visit. If you're farther afield, and are interested in artwork created from reclaimed materials, you may want to explore the work of some these artists online. They are: Sabin Aell, Brian Cavanaugh, Terry Maker, Jon Rietfors, Yumi Janairo Roth, and Ann Weber.

It's a very engaging and impressive exhibition -- fascinating to see what materials each artist employs and to what effect. While the art is wonderful enough from a distance, to truly appreciate its derivation and the creative re-use of materials requires close inspection. (And those kind of photos were unfortunately not allowed.) 

Among my favorite pieces were the sculptures by Ann Weber which were fashioned from strips of used cardboard, stapled together, to form organic shapes that often took advantage of the printed graphics and die cut slots/openings of the original boxes. A video about her work is helpful in understanding the her thinking, process, and scale. The large pieces in these photos are 8-12 feet tall. 

I was thrilled by the textural wonderment in many of the pieces in the show. Layering of materials becomes very compelling when small bits and pieces are able to take on entirely new forms in combination and through repetition. While I consider these works to be primarily sculpture and assemblage, the thinking behind them certainly was inspiring and has strong parallels to the realm of collage.