Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art

by Blanche Craig (Editor)

Assembling Contemporary Art is the first authoritative survey of the history of collage from its origins through to the latest work being produced by artists today. Collage has a relatively short, but incredibly rich history. Dating back to the early 1900s, it first emerged in the work of artists such as Picasso, Braque and, later, the Constructivists and has since proliferated through figures like Kurt Schwitters, Max Ernst and the Surrealists, branching out into a myriad of fine art practice that encompasses assemblage, montage and décollage. The popularity of collage is on the increase again, partly as a result of such postmodernist concerns as pluralism, multiplicity and hybridity. This art form is also flourishing in other areas, ranging from the traditional `cut and paste' method through to digital and installation collage. Featuring works by international artists Picasso, Schwitters and Ernst, through to Hannah Hoch, Martha Rosler, John Stezaker, Richard Hamilton, Layla Curtis, David Salle, Eduardo Poalozzi, Javier Rodriguez, Robert Rauschenberg, Mimei Thompson, David Thorpe, Fred Tomaselli and many more. Assembling Contemporary Art also includes texts, by both academics and artists, which outline the history of the medium as well as critically addressing how collage is being used throughout contemporary art today.

Genres: Art

238 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2008

Reviews

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book with excellent reproductions of some of the most interesting works of collage in contemporary art. I found it slightly lacking in context. Though the two essays that were included were interesting they could have been more thoroughly developed. The O'Reilly essay made some really surprising reductions of the development of early-twentieth century collage techniques. Still a lot of good concepts raised - a good introduction for undergraduates beginning to think critically about collage. The second essay posited some fantastic ideas, especially his notion of the chimeric edge and the dissolving edge. The more interesting ideas were dealt with a bit hurriedly for my tastes, in order I think to get to a number of other ideas of the edge that were somewhat less compelling. I would have liked to get deeper into the idea of collage in medical science and current technology - prothesis and genetic engineering as a collagist technique. Some very provocative ideas in there.

The book's focus is unsurprisingly on the UK, with only a handful of the most known artists outside of the UK included. But I like the way the book was organized, by style/subject rather than chronologically. And the reproductions are really stunning.