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COLLAGE ON VIEW
Turning the Page
At Johns Creek Arts Center in Johns Creek, Georgia, USA, online only through 30 May 2021. Ellen Kierr Stein of the Atlanta Collage Society says about this exhibit, "The title for this exhibit, 'Turning the Page', highlights the impact of newsprint in terms of content, imagery, and format. Newspapers offer us many components: capsulized information, editorial viewpoints, memorable photos, graphic design, and mass marketing. Our challenge for this exhibit was to select from these elements to create a collage–to convert a functional medium into aesthetic components." MORE
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Schematic
Michael Sjostedt at Familiar Trees in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA through 29 May 2021. The artist says about this work, "'Schematic' is inspired by the architectural design process. The series combines a myriad of elements often associated with architectural renderings: illustrations and photographs of spaces, original blueprints, pencil markings, and adhesives. I didn’t overthink the construction of each piece, allowing for freeform experimentation—sketching with physical materials. While each piece is finished, there’s still a work-in-progress feel to the series." MORE
FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY
Mystery & Infinity
Berkeley, California, USA. Marlene Walters’ process is focused, meditative and time-intensive. Her collage work stems from a lifelong interest in “things made of smaller things” and evocative and intricate puzzle-like works. They are nest-like while also acknowledging the sense of mystery and infinity a window suggests. MORE
FROM KOLAJ 32
The Seaside Fleet Goes to New York City
Those who attended Kolaj Fest New Orleans in 2018 may have encountered JRC's The Seaside Fleet, "a citywide installation made from 1000+ hand folded paper boats.” In May, the Seaside Fleet makes its way to New York City as part of the Art in Odd Places: NORMAL, a festival curated by Furusho von Puttkammer. The artist explained, “It travels and changes dimensions as pieces of the fleet are added and subtracted. A collaborative project, artists and viewers will be invited to add their boats to the fleet as it makes its way through New Orleans, and around the world." MORE
FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY
Memory Architecture
Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Linden Eller’s work centers around themes of memory architecture, its process of alterations, renewals, and inaccuracies. Blending autobiographical narratives with collective subjects such as childhood, longing, and place, Eller thinks of her collages as layered field recordings that represent a oneness, multiple perspectives of the same story. MORE
FROM THE ARTIST DIRECTORY
Strange Tensions
Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Meeting the world, among memories, dreams and traces abandoned. Silent frames that tell forgotten stories, unveiling secrets and memories lost, all in the suspense of current world events. Through a process of collecting, assembling and composing, Evelyna Helmer invents a new visual language redirected into a strange tension. MORE
FROM KOLAJ 32
Scottish Whisky Distiller Features British Collage Artist
In Kolaj #32, we report on Peter Blake's collage on Macallan Whisky bottles. Founded in 1824, the Scottish whisky distiller has a rich history. To celebrate their legacy, they engaged the British pop artist to make "The Anecdotes of Ages Collection", "a limited-release whisky and art collection." MORE
CALL TO ARTISTS
Collage Artist Residency: Money Money
Deadline to apply: May 26, 2021. During this project-driven artist residency, collage artists work together to create a series of collages that illustrate Eleanor H. Porter’s 1918 novel, Oh, Money! Money!. The result will be a book published by Kolaj Institute. The residency is being done in conjunction with “The Money $how” at Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The book will be released at an event in July. MORE
Recent Publications
Our goal with every issue is that Kolaj Magazine is essential reading for anyone interested in the role of contemporary collage in art, culture, and society. We not only hope you enjoy the articles and images in Kolaj #32, we hope it leads you to asking great questions.
CURRENT ISSUE
Kolaj #32
In the Kolaj #32's editorial, Ric Kasini Kadour writes, “I often find myself saying, Collage is powerful magic. The collage community often feels like we are off in our own private corner of the art world. We excel at sharing that collage magic with each other. How can we do better sharing it with the rest of the world?” Each issue of Kolaj Magazine shows how collage artists are making their way through the world. International in scope, we explore all aspects of collage and its impact on society and culture. MORE
JOIN KOLAJ INSTITUTE
Members of the Silver Scissors & Golden Glue Societies support the work of Kolaj Institute while receiving an item from Kolaj each month. Those who join before 20 May 2021 will receive Kolaj #32. LEARN MORE
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SPECIAL EDITION
World Collage Day 2021
In honour of World Collage Day, May 8, 2021, Kolaj Magazine is releasing a special edition of the magazine. The Special Edition is full of Cut-Out Pages and stories from inspiring collage artists. MORE
Note: The World Collage Day Special Edition is not included in a regular Kolaj Magazine subscription.
COLLAGE BOOK
Unfamiliar Vegetables: Variations in Collage
Unfamiliar Vegetables is a collection of collage where each of the fifty artists interpreted, in their own way, Carlotta Bonnecaze’s 1892 Carnival float design Familiar Vegetables. Project organizer Christopher Kurts observed, “Unfamiliar Vegetables is an experiment in controlled chaos….tiny variations within each artist’s creative sphere accumulate until the outcomes are as unique as the people creating them.” MORE
COLLAGE COMMUNITIES
The International Directory of Collage Communities
The 104-page book is a survey of collage networks, guilds, communities, and projects as well as online efforts and groups focused on collage research. For each community, the directory presents their key activities, mission, how to join, and a bit of their history. Copious images illustrate the book. MORE
BOOK
Radical Reimaginings
The curators of the 96-page book invited artists who use collage in their practice to put forward a work of art that offers a visual narrative that speaks to the unprecedented change unfolding in 2020. An essay by Ric Kasini Kadour reflects upon collage's unique ability to imagine new realities. Forty artists from nine countries and multiple Indigenous peoples—Salish-Kootenai/Métis-Cree/Sho-Ban, Tlingit/Nisga’a, Oglala/Lakota, and Seneca Nation—offer a variety of perspectives. The voices of Black, Latinx, Native, and white Americans mingle with those from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Canada, France, and Germany. Artwork is accompanied by a statement in which the artists describe how they want to reimagine the world. MORE
BOOK
Collage Magic
by Emma Anna
Part autobiography, part fantasy, Emma Anna’s vision of The New Old World (aka The NOW) fuses vintage ephemera with modern imaging technologies. Emma shapes this strange world by using the pen tool from Adobe Photoshop as her magic wand, in the process declaring herself to be a “collage magician”. Part artist book, part document of art making, Collage Magic, from La Casa Verde Editions, is Emma Anna’s journey through magic and art. MORE
BOOK
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
BOOK
Cultural Deconstructions
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
Our goal with every issue is that Kolaj Magazine is essential reading for anyone interested in the role of contemporary collage in art, culture, and society. Each issue of Kolaj Magazine is dedicated to reviewing and surveying contemporary collage with an international perspective. We are interested in collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century art movement.
