A Centenary of Collage

I am delighted to be involved in an art exhibition to celebrate 100 years of collage at

The Arison Gallery 512 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. The exhibition runs from 24th February – 4th April 2009.

It was a hundred years ago, 1908, a 26 year old Pablo Picasso took a sheet of cardboard with a label stuck on to it and drew a couple of nude figures in a wooded glade. The label he painted over in white and drew a boat with a figure leaning over the stern. The picture he called The Dream.

The term collage comes from the French verb, coller, the verb “to stick” and this term has come to mean a picture with elements stuck on a surface to create a picture. Some would argue that The Dream is not strictly a collage, indeed Picasso did not himself stick the label on, but it is the earliest known work with a collaged element. Picasso was later to enter into a fruitful artistic relationship with George Braques and from 1911 they developed the collage medium often not considering a work finished until the other had passed comment.

Exhibition curator Michael Billington thought that 2009 was an appropriate time to celebrate the medium of collage and he has put together a display of works from Artists across four continents. Twenty artists from England, Spain, Argentina, USA and Australia have come together to give a representation of 21st century collagists and there are examples of the old fashioned hand cut and stuck works on paper, pieces of ephemera assembled in small boxes in the style of Cornell and also examples of a more modern technological way of approaching collage through computer software such as “photoshop”.

Some of the works in this exhibition are in private collections and have been kindly loaned for the event but many are for sale. The artists hope that you enjoy this celebration of the medium of collage and hope that you follow up their web sites to view more of their work.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michael for all his hard work in making this Exhibition happen. You can view Michaels Art here

You can view a “virtual” exhibition of the works on line at a special preview:
A Centenary of Collage