Modern Vintage Illustration by Martin Dawber
foreword by Stephen Bayley
review by Benoit Depelteau
During a frenetic Christmas shopping spree, a simple glance at the cover of a book was sufficient to identify French artist and illustrator Julien Pacaud’s recognizable style. I was immediately curious to see how collage would be approached in Martin Dawber’s Modern Vintage Illustration, which was published by Batsford in August 2012.
The premise of the book is to present recent art and illustration that was inspired by key art movements and cultural periods from the Victorian Era to Punk. Chronologically presented, each era is accompanied by contextual information and a list of influential names. Each image is presented with a few words pointing out key elements that connect the work to its inspirational style. Sadly, it’s sometimes frustrating that original images are not pictured in the book. In some cases, it would have enhanced the experience.
Since many of the creators presented in the book have been known for their personal work in art before they started to work for clients, and since the selected work is not always commercial, I felt it was relevant that the foreword by Stephen Bayley addresses the issue right at the beginning. Bayley, a British style and design critic who has also worked as a museum curator in the past, states, “With the joyless, arid, nugatory futility of conceptualism on one historic side and the era of digital art next-up with its yet-to-be-written rules, here is a body of work whose essential, defining quality is visual.”
Across the pages, that body of work defines itself in a variety of techniques. The interesting aspect of Dawber’s selection is the large place given to traditional work, in a time when digital image processing is the standard. While movements like Art Nouveau, Vienna Secessionism, Constructivism and Art Deco have mostly inspired paintings or screen prints, movements like Victoriana, Dada, Surrealism, 50s Americana, Pop Art, Comic Book Art and Punk prove to be a premium inspiration for collage artists.
With multiple images by Michael Leigh, Marty Gordon, Tim Manthey, El Reino de la Sandía, Peter Quinnell, Nicky Ackland-Snow, Greg Gossel and Tom Cornfoot, collage is well-represented within the book. This could be interpreted as a sign that collage has a burgeoning importance in the artistic landscape.
Modern Vintage Illustration
by Martin Dawber with foreword by Stephen Bayley
over 420 illustrations, 10”x10”, 224 pages, £18.99
ISBN: 978-1849940320
Batsford, London 2012
This Book Review originally appeared in Issue Three. To see other Reviews from the world of collage, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj or PURCHASE ISSUE THREE.
Image:
Elise and the Crow
by Sonia Roy
digital collage
2009