The art of Collage
By: Bart Kalin

What makes a collage such a fantastic art today? Why is there an increasing popularity of collage artist out there? These are the questions I intend to answer in this short article. The art of collage began in the 20th century. Of course before that time various artists experimented with an assemblage of different forms to make a whole but this was always limited and accompanied by more traditional techniques.

Cubist painter, Pablo Picasso, invented the collage technique in 1912 with his 'Still Life with Chair Caning', in which he pasted a patch of oilcloth to the canvas. Soon after the surrealists continued exploring the new worlds of expression with this new technique. So as we can see, Collage making is a relatively new technique in the art world.

An artistic collage work may include many different materials, such as newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of colored or hand-made papers, tinfoil, rubber, photographs, etc., ususally glued or nailed to a solid support like a wood, artboard, cork board, paper or canvas.

Unlike traditional painting, collage making is considerably cheap and it is also a challange and answer to the increasing consumption of products. Collage is becoming more popular because it feeds of already presented images and logos which echo with old meanings and are now being reinvented. Artists like Elliott Hundley use in their pieces whatever they can find at work or at home, or even on the streets.

I think today Collage art is more appropiate than ever. Media displays millions of images daily, products are being made 24/7 in all parts of the world. We are so accostumed to images being fed to us in so many forms that it is easier for many people to look at a collage and understand what the artist had in mind.

To me, a collage artist is a new type of a revolutionary, a rebel against the common associations of images and their meanings.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

View works by Elliot Hundlay, the collage artists mentioned in the article: www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/elliot_hundley.htm

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