“Relate comic things in pompous fashion. Irregularity, in other words the unexpected, the surprising, the astonishing, are essential to and characteristic of beauty. Two fundamental literary qualities: supernaturalism and irony. The blend of the grotesque and the tragic are attractive to the mind, as is discord to blasé ears. Imagine a canvas for a lyrical, magical farce, for a pantomime, and translate it into a serious novel. Drown the whole thing in an abnormal, dreamy atmosphere, in the atmosphere of great days … the region of pure poetry.”
― Charles Baudelaire
The latest collage news and inspiration!
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NEWS
WORKSHOP: the last of this year’s bi-monthly online collage-as-therapy workshops will take place on Sunday, November 19th at 5pm. The theme is MAKING & BREAKING PATTERNS. The workshop is as always free to attend. To sign up, please contact Julia from Art Therapy Lab. All information below.
READ: No, collage is just a way to build an image. Its original meaning is to add things from the world in a painting as in the Picasso cohort of the 20th century, like the rough around the wine bottle added to a painting. That was a collage. And then, little by little, it became things that people do when they’re in their dorm - David Salle Has a Headline in Mind for This Interview - via Interview
EXHIBITION: Collages by Gerard Devos at Les Passantes here in Paris. The opening will be on November 19th at 7pm. Work on display until December 9th.
READ: Artist Toon Joosen continues his retro mashups, splicing two distinct images into ironic and amusing juxtapositions. Having amassed an enormous archive of magazines and newspapers from the 1960s, Joosen tends to identify a pair of clippings “that together strengthen or alienate the whole,” he says. Through warped perspectives and exaggerated scales, the resulting collages reveal the artist’s signature wit as they depict people lounging on massive lilypads, a young boy spraying whipped cream on a beach, and a fisherman reeling in love - Toon Joosen Splices Snapshots of ’60s Life into Tongue-in-Cheek Collages - via Colossal
READ: Collage entered his practice after briefly teaching middle school art while living in New Orleans in 2013, prompted by his students’ seemingly undisciplined and imaginative approach to the medium. The following year, he was selected for a year-long arts residency in Accra, Ghana, through Boston-based organization Arts Connect International, which also provided three months of entrepreneurial training. Those lessons informed his choice to launch a business selling prints of his collages upon returning home to St. Louis, while still keeping an eye on the future value of his original pieces - The Artsy Vanguard 2023: Basil Kincaid - via Artsy
EXHIBITION: Déstructuralisme Figuratif Art Project exhibition here in Paris, with collage work by, among many others, the New York Collage Ensemble. All information below.
READ: For Nathalie, one of the most striking revelations during the project was the discovery of Turbeville's photo collages. These unusual works were created with scissors, pins, glue and other physical tools, leaving behind marks and traces of the artist's process. And it was this very physicality and hands-on approach that most intrigued Nathalie - Why 'Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage' is a must-read for photographers everywhere - via Creative Boom
EXHIBITION: Paper Play Collage Exhibition in Vancouver until November 25, 2023. All information below or via Outsiders and Others Art Society
PCC: Our 2024 Workbook is out and available for sale on our website. Our weekly creative challenge remains free and open to everyone and everything, digital or analog artists, French or not. The workbook is an optional add-on for those who prefer to work with paper and don’t want to print our images themselves. Like every year, the book is designed so that you can either take it apart or create your collages in the book itself. Week numbers and image sources are on the back of each image, so even if your books falls apart at one point, you will always know what’s what!
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
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