Kolaj is a quarterly, printed, 10″x8″ art magazine
featuring reviews and surveys of contemporary collage. The magazine takes an international perspective on collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century art movement.
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INSIDE THE ISSUE
Kolaj Magazine exists to report on the International Collage Community and how collage is making its way into the world. In this issue’s round-up of collage news,
Every now and then, an exhibition comes along that seems perfect for collage artists on the hunt for interesting material. In Kolaj 42, we report on one such exhibition, “Little Beasts: Art, Wonder and the Natural World” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The exhibition explores “how European artists spread knowledge about creatures big and small during the 16th and 17th centuries.”
“God is on the cover of Kolaj 42″ is not a sentence we thought we would ever write but in this case it refers to the delightful collage by Warsaw, Poland-based artist Marta Janik. The article “Hybrid Narratives” is an interview with her by fellow collagist and sometimes collaborator Anthony D Kelly. Janik said, “Words are important to me. I love metaphors, comparisons. I follow tropes and myths. I think there is a lot of that in my collages. I think my works always tell a story.”
In “Dance to Resist & Rebel,” we report on how Birmingham, England, UK artist Mark Murphy took collage to Glastonbury Festival. This year, the site commissioned Murphy to create “six animated collage sequences that featured on Terminal 1’s three departures board screens…These animations are part of an ongoing exploration by the artist into how collages move.”
“Am I on a merry-go-round or inside a giant kaleidoscope?,” asks Cheyenne, Wyoming writer and artist Valeri Clarke in the article “When You Take a Closer Look.” She continues, “Standing in front of a large round canvas by Dana Hart-Stone, with a myriad of colorful images radiating outward from the center, I could be on psychedelics, but I’m not.” Clarke previews an exhibition of Hart-Stone’s artwork at William Havu Gallery in Denver, Colorado, 26 September 2025 to10 January 2026.
From John Heartfield’s early collages ridiculing Hitler to Martha Rosler’s feminist and anti-war collages, collage has a long history of speaking to political and social injustice. In Kolaj 42, we profile San Diego, California-based collagist G. E. Vogt‘s collage project that takes on Project 2025, a plan by the current administration to reorganize the American government under an executive power that would enact an authoritarian, white supremacist, Christian nationalist agenda.
Dada rose from the ashes of World War I and, as such, the artists were intensely political. We once again find ourselves at a time of rising authoritarian power. In Kolaj 42, we report on how Enrique “Kike” Congrains’s Shitty World Leaders Rubik’s Cube Game is inline with a long tradition of artists satirizing power.
Sadly, as neo-liberal governments have deregulated and privatized postal services, it has become hard and harder to sustain a Mail Art practice. In Kolaj 42, we reflect on Düsseldorf, Germany, analog collage artist Sabine Remy’s recent public cessation of her Mail Art practice which not only raises awareness of this art movement, it reminds us how delicate artist networks can be during these difficult times.
Karen Hirsch reflects on her mother’s decades of collage making in “Mother, Sister, Artist.” She wrote, “So much about dementia is terrible. It chips away parts of the self, bit by bit, but with scissors in hand, she was always content. For a creative person like my mother, the illness unleashed five years of fierce self-expression.”
Kolaj 42’s round-up of news from Kolaj Institute is illustrated with the collaborative scanograph, “Everything I Have Is Yours.” The artwork was made by participants in the 2025 Poetry & Collage Artist Residency in New Orleans and is included in “Collage as Art Movement,” which is on view at the gallery through the end of August.
In Kolaj 42, we profile the book, The Life & Design of Frédéric Le ShoeShoe. The project is the brainchild of Montreal collage artist Maria Schamis Turner who was a Solo Artist in Residence at Kolaj Institute in May 2024. “A fun read illustrated with nonsensical, figurative collage, the book tells the story of a fictional fashion designer from Montreal who travels to New Orleans in search of glory only to end in tragedy.”
We review the book, Transformation: A Survey of Collage and the Development of Personal Language, that features thirteen contemporary collage artists. The book presents a multi-year spread of the artist’s work alongside a short Question & Answer piece by each artist as a way to get a sense of the artist’s personal language and process. “Paul Loughney’s thoughtful introduction offers an insightful definition of the medium that goes beyond the typical observations about glue and fragment.”
In the feature, “Selections from the Collection”, we showcase artwork from the Kolaj Institute Collection that has been curated by participants in the Curating Collage Workshop. In this issue, Thor Gets Stung by Mark Stevens (Portland, Oregon, USA) is curated by AP Faust (Ellenwood, Georgia, USA). O! Pioneers by Katrina Slavik (Queens, New York, USA) is curated by Faith Baum (Lexington, Massachusetts, USA). Bac by Bianca Walker (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) is curated by Christine Karapetian (Jackson Heights, New York, USA).
ARTIST PORTFOLIOS
Each issue of Kolaj Magazine features portfolios of contemporary artists alongside critical commentary as a means of developing a deeper understanding of collage as both a medium and a genre. To be considered, register with the Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory at www.kolajmagazine.com.
Jan Kather
Elmira Heights, New York, USA
“The layers I created photographically act as a metaphor for the layers of history along the river.”
Carolyn E. Oliver
Carlsbad, California, USA
“The art form of collage has allowed me to finally surrender being a victim of my own perfectionism…. Creating art allows me to weave together a lifetime of stories and memories.”
Simon Vanheukelom
Barrio Otoya, San José, Costa Rica
“When making collage, one treats images with humanity. When we cut, rip, isolate, transform, reorder, overlap, put out of context existing images, we heal and redefine our ideas we have with those images.”
Gunzi Holmström
Helsinki, Finland
“My visual world consists of playful and mystic combinations of abstract and representing forms. In my art I try to promote the exchange of associations and energy transformation.”
Tiffany Dugan
New York, New York, USA
“I explore the ever-evolving cycles connected to self- and social-identity. My focus is on the female and lesbian experience, which I examine through a kaleidoscope of color and movement.”