Collage Artists Tackle Contemporary Issues

AT KOLAJ FEST NEW ORLEANS

Perhaps because of the pivotal role in Dadaism, collage is often presented and discussed as a medium in which the artist plays with images, space, and composition. But what happens when artists use the medium to address contemporary issues? In this session, we will hear from a range of artists who use collage as they make art that speaks to contemporary politics and economics; and identity and culture. What role can collage play in communicating complex 21st century issues to our communities?

At the heart of Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a symposium that investigates how contemporary artists are using and defining collage. Symposium sessions will take place on Friday and Saturday with three, ninety minute panels occuring on each day.

The panel “Collage Artists Tackle Contemporary Issues” is moderated by Kolaj contributor Etty Yaniv. We hear from three artists about their practice.

Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, July 12-15, 2018. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend.


Yasmine Diaz uses her work to navigate overlapping tensions around religion, gender, and third-culture identity using personal archives, found imagery and various mixed media on paper. Born and raised in Chicago to parents who immigrated from the highlands of Yafa in southern Yemen, her upbringing encompassed a complicated relationship with Islam, the patriarchal cultural and social norms of her community, against a backdrop of 80s and 90s Western pop culture. Diaz will present her series, “One Way Or Another,” as the starting point for a discussion on how collage resonates and is an effective tool for those of mixed backgrounds. (image: It’s A Girl by Yasmine Diaz (18″x24″; collage on paper; 2017))


Hale Ekinci’s visual vocabulary includes pictorial histories, gender politics, and traditions from her Turkish upbringing. Ekinci uses collage to explore her heritage, her alien status living in the US, and the rich history of “women’s work” through non-linear narrative videos and mixed media paintings that are juxtaposed with craft. Her recent projects touch on social issues, cultural traditions, and political unrest. Despite the sometimes dismal nature of these controversial issues, her works are often playful as she uses vibrant colors, patterns, and hopeful moments. (image: Untitled Bachelorette with Skills by Hale Ekinci (19″x21″; solvent photo transfer, embroidery, crochet, acrylic on bed sheet; 2017)


From Peru, Kike Congrains experiments with themes like death, psychedelics and religion in response to South America and Peruvian religiosity. His ongoing project, Canson City, centers around an imaginary town where he is the sheriff. Each collage is part of the mythology of the town that is accompanied by a short story that he writes on the spot as an improvisation exercise. Stories speak about famous citizens, traditions or historic moments of the imaginary place. The stories and collage are published in Spanish on his Facebook page and in English on his Instagram. (image: Corpuus by Kike Congrains (15.7″x21.7″; handmade collage; 2016)

About the Moderator

Etty Yaniv was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and currently works on her art, art writing, and curatorial projects in Brooklyn. She holds BA in Psychology and English Literature from Tel Aviv University, a BFA from Parsons School of Design, and an MFA from SUNY Purchase. Her installation work integrates drawing, photography and painting to form three-dimensional immersive environments. She has exhibited in solo and group shows at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. She blogs about fine art on her Art Spiel blog. For Kolaj Magazine, Yaniv has written about László Moholy-Nagy, Rhonda Wall, Elisabeth Wild, Strook, 2016 Frieze London, the Brooklyn Collage Collective, and collage from Tbilisi, Georgia. Find out more at www.kolajmagazine.com, on artspiel.org, and on her website.

Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, July 12-15, 2018. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend.