Where Photography Meets Collage

COLLAGE ON VIEW

Where Photography Meets Collage

at the New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) Center
9 June-20 August 2024

Photography and collage have a long history of being in dialogue with one another; however, the intersection of these two mediums is poorly explored. The exhibition “Where Photography Meets Collage” aims to change that. This is the first of two exhibitions produced in collaboration between the New Orleans Photo Alliance and Kolaj Institute. The exhibition features artwork submitted through an open call to artists and artwork from the May 2024 Photography & Collage Artist Residency, where photographers and collage artists came together in dialogue, learning from one another, and making artwork for a series of exhibitions that explore the intersection of collage and photography. 

The exhibtion was juried by: Lisa Cates, Executive Director, New Orleans Photo Alliance and the annual PhotoNOLA Festival; Ric Kasini Kadour, Director of Kolaj Institute and a 2020-2021 Curatorial Fellow of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Dafna Steinberg, MFA, Adjunct Professor of Darkroom Photography at Delaware County Community College in Media, Pennsylvania; and Lance Rothstein, photojournalist and street artist who operates the darkroom and teaches photography and collage workshops at the Morean Art Center in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

RESIDENTS AND FACULTY REPRESENTED IN THE SHOW

Western Massachusetts-based Alejandra Spruill has been creating small one off collage photobooks since law school. Not only does she center photography and collage art in her practice, but she passes pass along that knowledge as an educator. Before introducing her students to the darkroom, they all create collages, both as a method to learn about one another, but also to begin unlocking the visual sectors of the brain. The artist holds a BA in Visual Media Arts Production, as well as a law degree. She serves on the In-Sight Photography Project Board of Directors, a Vermont-based nonprofit centering enriching the lives of teens through the photographic arts. She also sits on the Board of Advisors at Artists for Humanity, a youth nonprofit in Boston, a program of which she is also an alumna.

Using a diverse range of photographic techniques, including experimental exposure methods, unconventional lighting, and layered compositions, Brandon Thomas Brown navigates the interplay between light and shadow, form and space. His approach allows for the creation of images that challenge preconceived notions about black identity and invite viewers to search for a visual landscape that blurs the lines between reality and abstraction. The artist holds degrees from the University of Delaware and The New School. Originally from Maryland, Brown lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he works as a portrait photographer.

Photography is the medium that brings Michigan-based artist Marcus Fields into other interests like videography and printmaking. He experiments with his photography and other graphic design projects through risography printing, letterpress printing, and relief printing. He experiments in a range of artistic expressions, including theater, video production, photography, and printmaking among others. His interest lies in finding intersections between these various mediums and allowing them to inform one another. He currently works as Assistant Director of Arts and Media Learning at Michigan State University’s Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH), where he supports learning in a variety of technology-rich creative learning spaces: a media lab, an art studio, and a theater.

Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, is a writer, artist, publisher, and cultural worker. Working with the Vermont Arts Council, Kadour curated four exhibits: “Connection: The Art of Coming Together” (2017) and Vermont Artists to Watch 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2017, he curated “The Art of Winter” at S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington, Vermont. In 2018, Kadour curated “Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage” at Antenna Gallery in New Orleans, which bought together collage artists whose work represents the potential for deeper inquiry and further curatorial exploration of the medium; followed in 2019 by “Cultural Deconstructions: Critical Issues in Collage” at LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, which furthered the conversation; and “Amuse Bouche”, also at LeMieux Galleries in 2023. Since 2018, he has produced Kolaj Fest New Orleans, a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society. As Curator of Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont in 2019 and 2020, he curated three exhibitions, “Rokeby Through the Lens” (May 19-June 16, 2019), “Structures” (August 24-October 27, 2019), and “Mending Fences: New Works by Carol MacDonald” (July 12-October 25, 2020). He also curated “Contemporary American Regionalism: Vermont Perspectives” (August 17-October 20, 2019); “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (November 1-30, 2019); and “Many Americas” (August 20-November 27, 2022) in the Wilson Museum & Galleries at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. “The Money $how”, co-curated with Frank Juarez, was presented at the AIR Space Gallery at Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (April 10-September 12, 2021). For Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland (August 13-20, 2021), he curated “Empty Columns Are a Place to Dream”, which traveled to the Knoxville Museum of Art in January-February 2022. At 516 ARTS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kadour co-curated with Alicia Inez Guzmàn two exhibitions: “Many Worlds Are Born” (February 19-May 14, 2022) and “Technologies of the Spirit” (June 11-September 3, 2022). In 2023 at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Kadour curated “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (January 9-February 16, 2023) and “Mystical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale” (March 17-May 28, 2023). In September 2023, he curated “Word of Mouth: Folklore, Community and Collage” at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland. His short film, The Covenant of Schwitters’ Army, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2023. His film, Joy As Paper, premiered at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2024. At the Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans, Kadour curated the Grand Opening Exhibition (March 9-April 14, 2024); “Collage the Planet: Environmentalism in Art” (April 19-May 26, 2024); “Magic in the Modern World” (June 1-August 11, 2024); and “Advanced Wound Healing Techniques: Collage by Robbie Morgan” (August 16-October 6, 2024). Kadour is the editor and publisher of Kolaj Magazine. He has written for a number of galleries and his writing has appeared in Hyperallergic, OEI, Vermont Magazine, Seven Days, Seattle Weekly, Art New England (where he was the former Vermont editor) and many others. Kadour maintains an active art practice and his photography, collage, and sculpture have been exhibited in and are part of private collections in Australia, Europe and North America. In January-February 2020, he was artist-in-residence at MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. He holds a BA in Comparative Religion from the University of Vermont. Kadour splits his time between Montreal and New Orleans.

Lance Rothstein (image at top) has been making collages with trash and found objects, then leaving them out on the streets since 2010. A professional photojournalist by trade, he’s worked for many major newspapers and publications throughout the US and Europe, but he returned to his art school roots after moving to Belgium with his wife in 2009 and dove headfirst into producing several forms of Street Art. His artwork has been shown in galleries in Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. His work has been featured in Wallflowers: Collage as Street Art, Be a Pal magazine, Unfamiliar Vegetables, the World Collage Day 2018 Special Edition, and Circulaire 132. Works of his are also in the permanent collection of the Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection in Yakima, Washington as well as The Schwitters’ Army Collection of Collage Art in Sanquhar, Scotland, and the Postcards for Democracy traveling collection by Mark Mothersbaugh and Beatie Wolf.

New Orleans-based artist Roxanne Rudov‘s practice involves photography because she often uses her photographs in her collage. She also uses her photographs to inspire compositions of her collage. Her photography and collage practice inform each other and work in unison with her painting practice as well. Rudov studied painting, film and digital media at Tulane University, followed by screenprinting training, and jewelry making in her early career. She also does community organizing with political campaigns and youth art education.

Dafna Steinberg holds an MFA in Socially Engaged Studio Art from the Moore College of Art and Design, an MA in Photography and Urban Cultures from the Centre for Urban and Community Research at Goldsmiths, and a BA in Liberal Arts from Hampshire College. She is currently a professor of darkroom photography at Delaware County Community College. Her collage and photography work has been shown in solo and group shows in England, Scotland, Slovenia, and the United States. Her artwork has appeared in publications including Death in the Family: An Open Call, edited by E. Aaron Ross (2023); #ICPConcerned: Global Images for a Global Crisis (2021), Create! Magazine #23, among others. Her article, “Report from Miami”, appeared in Kolaj 28. The artist lives and works in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.

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