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WORLD COLLAGE DAY | KOLAJ FEST NEW ORLEANS
Kolaj Magazine is a quarterly, printed magazine about contemporary collage.
Last Chance
Tuesday, November 12th is the Last Chance to subscribe to Kolaj Magazine and start with Kolaj 26.
Our goal with every issue is that Kolaj Magazineis essential reading for anyone interested in the role of contemporary collage in art, culture, and society. In Kolaj 26, we go deep into critical areas: copyright, political art, materiality, and concepts that explain the centrality of collage in the history of art. Each issue has articles about collage artists, profiles of collage projects, The Cut-Out Page, Artist Portfolios, and more. MORE
Inside the Issue
ARTIST PORTFOLIO
The Materiality of Worn Volumes
Mary Ellen Bartley is known for her photographs exploring the tactile and formal qualities of the printed book and its potential for abstraction. One aspect of her practice is working in unique libraries and archives where she responds to collections and their habitats developing projects over time spent with them. She writes, "I’m using collage in this series as a way to underscore the materiality of the worn volumes and as a strategy to play with abstraction." A portfolio of her work appears in Kolaj 26. MORE
ARTIST PORTFOLIO
Little Stories To Tell
"Fairy tales, legends, dreams and the surreal worlds they evoke have always been a part of the human experience; a way to make sense of our surroundings and explain our fears," writes Julie Liger-Belair. "As a child, these captured my imagination, weaving themselves into the fabric of my personality. Because of this, I am today a collector at heart, constantly collecting fragments of ideas and objects, each with their own little stories to tell. By combining them in different ways in my pieces, they form new narratives and meanings." A portfolio of her work appears in Kolaj 26. MORE
COLLAGE IDEA
Before It’s An Uncollage
If the end product of an uncollage looks like a painting—or a digital collage or a film, both of which he explores in Part III of the series—what does an uncollage look like before it is made into a seamless whole? In this article, Todd Bartel examines various forms of transferred imagery via the working methods of Grandma Moses, Ginnie Gardiner, and Talin Megherian. This is the second installment in a four-part series exploring the notion of Uncollage in Kolaj Magazine. MORE
ARTIST PORTFOLIO
Now I know what collage is for
Dominique Norville is a multi-media artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her collages strike deep. Playful imagery masks deeper commentary. Close looking pays off in complex stories that unfold in interesting ways. The best feedback Dominique Norville ever received was when one viewer told her, "Now I know what collage is for." A portfolio of her work appears in Kolaj 26. MORE
ARTIST PORTFOLIO
All Over the Map
Susan Lerner is a hand-cut collage artist living and working in New York City. The artist writes, “My latest series, ‘All Over the Map’, involves the use of vintage maps and imagery. The use of the map’s line, colour and symmetry naturally inform the direction of the work.” A portfolio of her work appears in Kolaj 26. MORE
COLLAGE COMMUNITY
An Urban Capharnaum
Usine 106u is an artist-run gallery specializing in out-of-the-ordinary work. Presenting monthly collective exhibitions of about thirty artists, its mandate is to abolish the barriers between artists and the public, be they hierarchical, intellectual or monetary. The gallery brings the marginalised eccentrics of Quebec’s art scene together. A few of the province’s collagists show there, with each using the medium in their own way, be it brutal, dreamy, or obsessive. Virginie Maltais shares a profile of these artists in Kolaj #26. MORE
ARTIST PROFILE
Mapping Back
Encaustic’s characteristic semi-transparency may be ideal for use in collage, as it allows underlying layers of paper to remain visible while permitting the medium its own signifying potential," writes Jane Affleck in Kolaj 26. "Halifax, Nova Scotia-based artist, curator and gallery director Peter Dykhuis has been in on this secret for years." MORE
COLLAGE IDEA
Thieves in the Temple
In the current print edition, Dillon Raborn dives into the story of Robyn Redish and the Stolen Painting Instagram. He writes, "Redish’s feeling of infringed autonomy will be familiar to anyone who has ever staked part of their livelihood on producing art...There is, however, a very real point of contention which wraps her situation into an ethical dead-end upon closer scrutiny: Redish is a collagist. Her medium’s appropriative practice predicates the upheaval of copyright doctrine. MORE
COLLAGE SCENE
Immersive Materiality
"Today’s ubiquitous use of found everyday material to enhance an immersive experience in Installation Art traces back to Dadaist notions of collage and the 'ready-made'. This is well reflected in the work of Julie Schenkelberg, Tamara Kostianovsky, Lorrie Fredette, Samuelle Green, and Sabrina Barrios, who through diverse labour-intensive processes create site-responsive environments made of “ready-made” objects and humble material such as paper or fabric, while underscoring socio-political themes," writes Etty Yaniv in Kolaj 26. Her article, "Immersive Materiality", reviews and contextualizes the collage-heavy medium of Installation Art in light of the work of five female artists. MORE
CUT OUT PAGE
Return, Rediscover, Fascinate
Czech collagist Kosmo Nauty is a "creator and collector" based in Prague. They create "playful and poetic stories for children and adults who want to follow the White Rabbit." Their collage work uses recycled and upcycled materials, including textiles, paper and cardboard, as a way to revive "objects and non-living things" and to connect to memory and childhood. Nauty created the Cut Out Page for Kolaj 26. MORE
NEWS & NOTES
Unfoldingobject
At Concord Art in Concord, Massachusetts, USA, though 11 August 2019. Curated by Todd Bartel, “Unfoldingobject” showcases varying ways in which artists combine visual imagery to make collages. The term “unfoldingobject” is a neologism coined by Bartel, “to describe that quality in art that inspires repeat looking.” Bartel further describes, “I tried to pull together a group of collages that celebrate the importance of ‘listening to the picture', or champion a slow read, or otherwise reveals meaning through multiple viewings--artwork that unfolds messages and connections in time, rather than being immediately deliverable in an instant.” MORE
COLLAGE HISTORY
Truth • Will • Art
One of Hitler’s first orders under the Enabling Act was to send the SS to murder John Heartfield. "Heartfield, a Berlin resident, had risked his life for years to use his art 'as a weapon' to expose and mock Hitler and his ugly vision for humanity," writes the artist's grandson. John J Heartfield is the paternal grandson of the famous collage artist and the curator of The Official John Heartfield Exhibition. His reflection on the collagist’s place in contemporary political art appears in Kolaj #26. MORE
NEWS & NOTES
KAOS
2nd International Festival of Contemporary Collage at Layer House and Art District Kranj in Kranj, Slovenia, 28 June-13 August 2019. This summer, the Slovenian city of Kranj hosts another edition of KAOS, the International Festival of Contemporary Collage. Along with an exhibition by over 100 collage artists, there are also two large collage murals by Spanish artist Susana Blasco and French artist Bill Noir. Other invited artists include Tinca Veerman from the Netherlands, Eugenia Conde from Argentina, Marta Živičnjak from Croatia, and Andrej Štular from Slovenia. MORE
COVER ARTIST
Compositional Energy
"Each piece is vastly different from the last, and while I employ a number of styles and techniques—my work is perhaps best defined by its compositional style and quality of energy," writes Jim Ford, whose work is on the cover of Kolaj 26 and a portfolio appears in the issue. "Clean lines, arbitrary shapes, bold colour choices, and abstract compositions make Ford’s collages a delight." MORE
NEWS & NOTES
Collage on the Steps of Parliament Hill
A giant collage is installed in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, on the York Street stairs that link the ByWard Market and Major’s Hill Park and run along the south side of the US Embassy. The work is by Montreal collagist Jerome Bertrand and "portrays our Canadian population as a vibrant and multi-faceted society." MORE
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Other Publications from Kolaj
BOOK
Where the Sun Casts No Shadow
“Where The Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” is a testament to the power of artist communities. A companion to the traveling exhibition, the book brings together the in-camera collage works of Stephen & Eve Schaub, the murals of Mo Vàsquez, documentary photographs of PLAYhouse in Quito, the poetry of Maria Clara Sharupi Jua in Spanish, English, and Shuar; and art from Quito’s El Club de Collage. MORE
BOOK
The Book as a Place of Collage
The companion to COLLAGE::BOOKS, a symposium about the role of publishing in collage, considers as a point of departure that the book, not the gallery, is the best place to experience collage. In this book, Ric Kasini Kadour investigates this idea using examples from the magazine's collection of collage books and work by presenters are the symposium, Kadour traces the history of collage publishing, offers a taxonomy of various publishing activities, and discusses the function of the book in art practice, for art professionals, for viewer or collector. MORE
SPECIAL EDITION
World Collage Day 2019
In honour of World Collage Day, May 11, 2019, Kolaj Magazine is releasing a special edition of the magazine. The Special Edition is full of stories about inspiring collage artists and advice for making, seeing, being collage. The World Collage Day 2019 Special Edition includes the special edition booklet, a World Collage Day 2019 poster and a pack of 8 postcards featuring the collage of Rosie Schinners. MORE
EXHIBITION CATALOG
Revolutionary Paths
When the collage is presented in exhibition, it is often done so without the critical framework granted other mediums. In "Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage", exhibition curator Ric Kasini Kadour presents examples of collage that represent various aspects and takes on the medium. Each work in the exhibition represents the potential for deeper inquiry and further curatorial exploration of the medium. MORE
EXHIBITION CATALOG
Cultural Decontructions
Collage is unique as a medium in that it uses as its material artifacts from the world itself. To harvest those fragments, the artist must first deconstruct culture; they must select, cut, and remove the elements they do not wish to use and then reconstruct work that tells a new story. In "Cultural Deconstructions: Critical Issues in Collage", exhibition curator Ric Kasini Kadour presents examples of collage artists who are deconstructing identity as a way to critique culture. MORE
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About Kolaj Magazine
Kolaj Magazine is a quarterly, printed magazine about contemporary collage. We are interested in how collage is made, how collage is exhibited, and how collage is collected. We are interested in the role collage plays in contemporary visual culture. Kolaj is a full colour, internationally-oriented art magazine. Kolaj is published in Montreal, Quebec by Maison Kasini. Visit Kolaj Magazine online.
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