John Stezaker

This is an artist recommended to me by many a peer, and I can see why. admittedly not for the pieces themselves, but for the concept, thought and progression involved to create them. It is widely known that Stezaker spends an immense amount of time on choosing the perfect set of images to go together, deliberating over days, weeks, months, to find the specific image necessary to accomplish his goals. This tiresome and often gruelling regime is one of which I cannot replicate necessarily myself, however the hours that I put into the exact image choice and arrangement of the collages that I create is one I like to believe is an above acceptable amount. Needless to say the amount of time spent on the collages that I now create is above and beyond requirements, however the efforts make them subtle differences that truely transform a piece.
Stezaker's work is bold, clear-cut, definitive and I like it for what it is, however I believe it reminds me too much of minimalism in the context of a collaged portrait, and though I may take safety in the knowledge of the time and effort spent on his collages as I spend on mine, the works shant necessarily influence my style, the disfunctional relationships I configure between the various pieces within my collages are much more appropriate to my needs. Suffice to say, I still respect and admire the works below.

www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/john-stezaker

Bob Kilvert

I haven't found much else on this artist, though he seems competent to say the least. I have no idea of his origins, where he came to learn his trade, I can't get hold of a copy of the book it is from anymore, even though I have viewed it in person much to my annoyance (I should've jumped at the chance to collect information on a piece of collage work I like) but alas, I have failed. Either way the mystery is something I love.

The piece itself is inspirational in its use of materia, however much of it looks/seems to be 'painted between the lines'. Whether consciously constructed with the imagery at play her, or totally misconstrued by myself to a higher sense of credibility, as if it doesn't deserve as much as I am giving it, the piece is subliminally suggestive of a lonely almost desperate elder, tattered and broken, seeking refuge in a tavern of some sort. The emotion conveyed are vague at best, though subtly they creep in, the more you view this piece as a whole and not just a collaged load of smaller images. I can only but assume it is due to the negative amount of facial features on show, that gives the work a subtle and quiet way of conveying its emotional content. This is just another way of backing the stark contrast of this work that I create.

“The Black Felt Hat” by Bob Kilvert, from Creative Collage Techniques by Nita Leland and Virginia Lee Williams.

http://www.dawnsbrain.com/index.php?s=hume

© Dean Ross.

David Lock

The pieces below were found through the discovery of some though crude, very vibrant and likeable paintings in a collage book (see bottom for name etc), which then led me to research the artist, and find that his collage work is much more vibrant, strong and overall technically flawless in my eyes. The paintings had such a blase feel, as if thrown out without care or attention to the subject or the integrity of the artist. The collages however have something all the more enticing to them. They feel as if the literal structured layers are the key to a host of metaphorical layering associated with each piece of the collage jigsaw, every placement has an impact somewhere else, every piece playfully exchanges with its counterparts. I hope that within my own collages I have taken even half as much time as the hours that must have gone into these collages, as they represent so much, they feel finished, in a defiantly crafted, highly thought out sort of way. I love these collages, I hope my own live upto my own expectations in other people's eyes.




Misfit (66)



Misfit (12)



Misfit (63)




Misfit (70)



Misfit (65)



Misfit (67)

Misfit (07)

Lock, David (2006) Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art, pg.166-167, black dog publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-1-906155-39-1

http://www.david-lock.com/collage.html

© Dean Ross.

Ellenjo04

A wistful attempt at amateur art and a basic grasp of high school art lessons has produced this, however I am very drawn to it. There is something deeply wrong with this piece, emotionally the 'artist' must be rather dark, twisted, intense. It's not necessarily the technique, but the image itself that defines this work. It certainly shows in this that art doesn't have to be technically sound (thouh that may be how I often prefer it) as this image has defiantly taken the way in which I want to destroy a face and accomplished it with anger and destroyed sanity (or so I believe, I may not be of sound mind myself, but who is?). This is a good furious, fast paced way of working, it really benefits what I think the artist is trying to convey - schizophrenic loneliness, a distance from everything, even the subjects own person.

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1534410609062709791OQOTyi

© Dean Ross.

Ewa (Eva) Sim-Zabka

Eva uses a deft hand in her painting, embracing collage to reinforce the imagery with an extra deeper layer of interest, covering with paint, exposing the collage, fading between the two forces playfully interacting in this piece. Admittedly this isn't my cup of tea per se; as a piece of artwork I wouldn't suggest I like it necessarily, however the technique involved and the way it is executed is wonderful. Quite simply I don't like the piece itself but I like what was involved in creating this piece.

http://www.onecolorfullife.com/collage.html

© Dean Ross.

Jonathan Yeo


PORTRAIT OF LUCIAN FREUD FROM PRIVATE PARTS

"Jonathan Yeo’s tribute to Lucian Freud has been achieved by pasting together cuttings from pornographic magazines to form a portrait.

Art world insiders see the collage as a daring image that both reflects one of Freud’s best known works, his 1985 self-portrait, and reveals Yeo’s own naked ambition.

Yeo, 38, whose previous subjects have included the Duke of Edinburgh and Tony Blair in more traditional hues, said last week: “It’s a tribute to an artist I greatly admire. I have done it this way because Freud himself has made his reputation – at least in part – by his portraits of both men and women naked. It’s a light-hearted tribute and not in any way an insult.”

Charles Saumarez Smith, who was director of the National Portrait Gallery in the 1990s, said, “Yeo is the young rising star of portraiture and Freud is the acknowledged master. It’s a homage that has its tradition in the past. Painters would quite often do portraits of other artists they admired. Admittedly this one of Freud is rather different as Yeo has used this other dimension – people’s private parts.”

The picture of Freud, which goes on show this week at an exhibition in central London, is a return to a technique Yeo used last year for a picture of President George W Bush"

This piece is not only a collage, but a great representation of a favourite artist's work of mine, done by a now plausible contestant to be a favourite artist of mine! Dangerously edgy, I don't see this work as shocking, but in fact highly interesting, the effort, time, technique and choices made to create this piece are truly wonderful, it's inspiring to see an artist ready to put a cheeky twist on the age old homage, and to do it so well. The accuracy, attention to the integrity of Freud's piece, choice of piece and involvement of the own artist's subtle dark satire all but has enthralled me.

http://www.jonathanyeo.com/archnews.asp?id=2

© Dean Ross.

Gareth aka yetanothercreative aka diceliving76

I thought this was a brilliant way in which to create a self portrait. I'm not a big collage fan, most of the time I find them unoriginal, generic, uninspired and very simple, technique highly lacking. However, this piece although not exactly the best arranged, caught me due to the mystery in the identity, the glasses covering the eyes, the hint at a mask introduced into the image as if often used, or his identity is something that he doesn't want to unveil to the viewer. It's a quirky piece, subtly humoured and inspiring.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yetanothermusicweblog/3777169771/

© Dean Ross.