“Recognizing that people's reactions don't belong to you is the only sane way to create. If people enjoy what you've created, terrific. If people ignore what you've created, too bad. If people misunderstand what you've created, don't sweat it. And what if people absolutely hate what you've created? What if people attack you with savage vitriol, and insult your intelligence, and malign your motives, and drag your good name through the mud? Just smile sweetly and suggest - as politely as you possibly can - that they go make their own fucking art. Then stubbornly continue making yours.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
The latest collage news and inspiration!
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NEWS
Jim Goldberg is renowned for producing some of the most important photobooks of recent decades. From Rich and Poor (1985) to Raised by Wolves (1995) and Open See (2009), he has immersed himself in marginalised worlds, documenting them with clear-eyed yet compassionate candour. In his own distinct way – using collage, montage, annotation and reconstruction, – he adds layers of meaning and narrative, inviting new connections between photographs and text - A first glimpse of Jim Goldberg’s confessional new photo book - via Dazed
I think a lot of it comes from culling and collecting old photographs of all different kinds, from the 1800s to almost the present, that can serve as a vehicle of inspiration in thinking about how to put things together. That kind of goes across all disciplines, in a way. So I would say, in terms of what inspires me or things that speak to me, it really is photographic language or vernacular photography that I glom on to and find really interesting, and therefore, looking at those things creates ideas to make different kinds of projects - Lorna Simpson On Perspective, the Complexity of Layering, and Doing What She Wants - via This is Colossal
Draxler’s hallmarks are well-rooted: his paintings, photographs, and collages, often featuring surprising manipulations of the human face or other visual distortions, arrive in stark black-and-white, creating an atmospheric tension as much as existential dread. It’s work, Draxler said, that channels his ongoing explorations into transformation—”transformation through identity, identity through transformation.” - ‘It’s the Snake Eating Its Own Tail’: Artist Jesse Draxler on His New Solo Show That Feeds Off His Dark and Enigmatic Inner World - via artnet
McCall has been using buttons to create stunning wearable and wall art for more than four decades. First inspired by his mom and grandmother's button collections, he's utilized the fashionable and functional garment accessory as part of his own personal retrospect of the Pride movement, from the height of disco music and the AIDS crisis - Artist Beau McCall - The Button Man - Celebrates Pride Month with Nostalgic Collage -
It was a long, winding road to get to this final cover, as you could expect with such a personal book, but I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result. We started off with just an image of Leslie on the cover. It was distressed in an unusual and arresting way—like a crumpled piece of paper—but it didn’t feel like alone it was telling the story we needed the cover to tell. As time went on, it really felt like a collage was the right motif to say what we needed to say, particularly with some of the artists Leslie considers in this memoir. Luckily, she provided us with numerous images that were beautiful and interesting and just worked well together. I am thrilled with how the cover came out and hope that it can entice readers to pick the book up—they’ll be so glad they did!” - See the cover for Leslie Jamison’s forthcoming memoir, Splinters - via lithub
PCC: A selection of challenge submissions from last week is up on our website and can be seen here, the image prompt for next week is available to download here
FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY - OLD & NEW
Barbara Wright Avlitis
I am American by birth and Greek by choice. I was born and grew up in California and raised my three children there as well. I had a business career from a very young age, starting in corporate sales and moving into the area of global leadership development and Global Human Resources. Once my children left home, I relocated to Europe to continue pursuing my business career. I was continuously writing about topics pertaining to my specialities in business and being creative with marketing, communication and employee motivation but I never considered trying my hand at making art or writing anything other than business articles.
After visiting the home of an amazing artist in Switzerland, I had the inspiration to put something on canvas myself. Quite unexpectedly, the reactions from family and friends were very positive about my art. It was really quite an accident that I started creating art, which is why I call myself the “Accidental Artist.” I am retired now and live on the Cycladic Island of Paros in Greece. I have an amazing office/studio combo where I write stories, poems and special interest pieces. Of course, I make my collage paintings there too! I rarely plan what is going to appear on my canvas as it seems to be born from an emotion or a memory that I hold inside of me.
More here
Sandrine Stahl
Mon travail explore l'utilisation du papier comme dialogue permanent entre peinture et collage. Formes découpées ou peinture, posées sur des surfaces déjà créées, m'offrent d'innombrables occasions d'exprimer la couleur, la ligne et la forme.
C' est un hymne au monde qui m’entoure, ce monde animal et végétal dans lequel je vis, qui m’émerveille et attise ma curiosité.
Ma pratique artistique est une réinterprétation intuitive de la nature, de mes impressions et observations lors de mes balades ou de mes voyages, souvent au bord de la mer : une communication non verbale de mes expériences, mes souvenirs, les atmosphères et les paysages différents qui m’entourent. Ainsi, tous ces éléments visuels que j’emmagasine ou collectionne, posés dans des carnets éphémères, sont ensuite restructurés en une abstraction du paysage ou de la figure. Chaque peinture, chaque collage papier ou digital, chaque objet se développent en une expression unique, dans une production de formes, de couleurs, de lignes et d'équilibre. Par la seule forme, je veux attirer le spectateur dans un paysage imaginaire, un monde dynamique qui oscille entre l'abstrait et le figuratif. Les œuvres sont toutes sans titre, car faisant partie d'un tout, la distinction n'est pas nécessaire.
More here
Jose Sampaio
Hello. I hope you are welcome to my place here in PCC.
I’m artist, illustrator and collagist based in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
I start my work with photography first at university and then later my interest evaluated to video and video art. Then I specialized in animation and motion graphics. And just after all of that I turned out my view to collage, which was a love at the first sight.
My art references and study are Picasso, Magritte, Grete Stern, Hanna Hock, William Kentridge, Sigmar Poke, Raoul Hassman.
In these days Eduardo Recife, Emannuel Polanco, David Carson and Isabel Herguera.
In my site you can find some of my artworks, some commissioned work, one short movie I made about my childhood and some ultrashortmovies, that are 30s animation films about different themes.
I think collage can open the doors of your subjectivity to surrealistics words, dreams, colors and characters which live inside your mind. Long life to the art of collage.
More here
Liz Corso
Originally from New Jersey, Liz Corso is a collage, mixed media and video artist currently based in Paris.
She recycles and subverts elements from our cumulative culture: usually hand-cut images from vintage magazines. As an active member in the mail art community, her work has been featured in publications such as Wipe, Circulaire 132, and Kart and she has had several shows in Paris.
With a background in art history, her work is greatly influenced by Man Ray and Hannah Hoch as well as Terry Gilliam and Jan Svankmajer. While the subtexts of some pieces touch on themes of sexism, racism, violence and isolation, her video work embraces the absurd.
More here
If you have any news about exhibitions, publications or events you want so share with the community, please send an email with all relevant information and at least one link to a website or venue to: hello@pariscollagecollective.com