CAVA1001 / PAINTING LAB
INTRODUCTION TO COLLAGE
& CONTEMPORARY PAINTING
‘Energetic Impressions’
This workshop will introduce painting, with a focus on how it utilizes collage.
Collage is the method of combining multiple two-dimensional elements
(representational or abstract) together in order to create a new pictorial space. It
has been described as the “central technique of 20th century visual art.”1
The emergence of collage is linked to the invention of photography and the mass-
distribution of printed imagery. While pre-modern painting preferences singular,
homogenous pictorial space (like the view from a window), collage-painting is a
form of abstraction, and emphasizes heterogeneity, multiplicity and fragmentation.
We will discuss the emergence of collage-painting in the 20th century and
describe how it is used in contemporary art practice.
Using water-based paint and found collage elements, we will explore formal translations
between the painted and the photographic image, and experiment with collaged
compositions to communication energetic impressions of the contemporary experience.
1. R.A. Lanham, The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts (University of Chicago Press, 2010) at 40.1
PAINTING COLLAGE
Unit Description
Collage is creative art form that involves combining various elements such as
photographs, illustrations, text, fabrics, found objects, and other materials to create a
unified composition. It's a technique where different materials or images are juxtaposed
and layered together to create a new visual representation. Collages can be two-
dimensional or three-dimensional and can take on various styles, from abstract and
surreal to representational and narrative.
Collages often allow artists to experiment with juxtaposition, contrast, and symbolism,
creating visually engaging and thought-provoking pieces. They can be created using
traditional methods such as cutting and pasting physical materials or through digital
tools where images are manipulated and combined electronically.
Collage art gained prominence in the early 20th century as part of the modern art
movement, with artists like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque using it to break away
from traditional artistic norms. Since then, collage has continued to evolve and be
embraced by artists as a versatile means of creative expression, through all subsequent
art movements including, Dada, Surrealism, Abstraction, Neo-Dada, Pop, Fluxus, Post-
Modernism, Conceptual Art, and throughout the Heterogeneity and contradictory forms
of Contemporary Art.
COLLAGE
Collage (from the French “coller,” to paste) was invented in 1912 — by either Pablo
Picasso or Georges Braque, Cubism’s dynamic duo. But the first artist to exhibit a
collage was Cubism’s third wheel: the young Spaniard Juan Gris.
Cubist COLLAGE
“Still Life: The Table” (1914), Juan Gris
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Pablo Picasso, Guitar, Paper Collage 1913 Georges Braque, Guitar and Sheet Music on Table,
Synthetic Cubism, 1923
Raoul Hausmann, ABCD, Photomontage, Dada, 1923 Hannah Höch, Untitled [From an Ethnographic Museum])
1930
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States
during the mid- to late-1950s. The movement presented a challenge to traditions of fine
art by including imagery from popular and mass culture, such as advertising, comic
books and mundane mass-produced objects. One of its aims is to use images of
popular culture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any culture, most
often through the use of irony. It is also associated with the artists' use of mechanical
means of reproduction or rendering techniques. In pop art, material is sometimes
visually removed from its known context, isolated, or combined with unrelated material.
Amongst the early artists that shaped the pop art movement were Eduardo Paolozzi
and Richard Hamilton in Britain, and Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol
and James Rosenquist among others in the United States. Pop art is widely interpreted
as a reaction to the then-dominant ideas of abstract expressionism, as well as an
expansion of those ideas. Due to its utilization of found objects and images, it is similar
to Dada. Neo-Dada, Pop art and minimalism are considered to be art movements that
precede postmodern art, or are some of the earliest examples of postmodern art
themselves.
Pop Art
Robert Raushenberg, Collage, Acrylic, Silkscreen, 1963 James Rosenquist, Acrylic on Canvas, 1969
James Rosenquist, F-111, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas & Aluminium, Installation, 1964 - 65 - 1969…
https://www.jamesrosenquiststudio.com/artworks/paintings-sculpture
James Rosenquist, Military Intelligence Series, Oil on Canvas, 1970 - 1994
James Rosenquist, The swimmer in the economist (painting 3), 1998
Contemporary painting often incorporates collage to bring new dimensions and textures to traditional painting techniques.
This fusion of painting and collage allows artists to experiment with diverse materials, create visual contrast, and add layers
of meaning to their work. Contemporary painting can incorporate collage to extend their investigations of techniques,
themes, ideas and processes such as:
Mixed Media / Texture and Dimension / Narrative and Conceptual Depth: Eg. Collage elements can introduce narrative
elements, symbolism, and conceptual layers to the painting. Artists might use fragments of text, images, or found objects to
convey specific messages, stories, or emotions / Juxtaposition and Contrast / Exploration of Identity and Culture: Eg.
Collage elements can reflect cultural diversity and individual identity. By incorporating materials from various sources, artists
can explore themes related to cultural heritage, personal experience, and social commentary.
Environmental and Sustainability Themes / Digital Collage Integration / Exploring Abstraction and Surrealism /
An Emphasis on Process: Collage allows artists to explore the artistic process itself. The act of selecting, arranging, and
adhering materials becomes part of the artistic journey and can lead to unexpected outcomes / & Hybrid Art Forms.
Incorporating collage into contemporary painting offers artists a versatile means of expression, enabling artists to push
boundaries, challenge conventions, and create unique artworks that resonate with both traditional and modern audiences.
Contemporary Painting
Kei Imazu Born in Yamaguchi, 1980. Lives and works in Bandung, Indonesia. Imazu
draws on a range of sources for the imagery within her artwork: from renowned
masterpieces, illustrated museum catalogues, encyclopedias and even trivial photos
found on social media.
Kei Imazu
Kei IMAZU, “Night Donut”, Oil on Canvas, 2016
Kei IMAZU, “Melpomene with mask”, Oil on Canvas, 2016
Kei IMAZU, “Repatriation”, Oil on Canvas, 2015
David Salle (born September 28, 1952 is an American Postmodern painter, printmaker,
photographer, and stage designer. Salle was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and lives and
works in East Hampton, New York. He earned a BFA and MFA from the California
Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, where he studied with John Baldessari.
Salle’s work first came to public attention in New York City in the early 1980s.
Salle's paintings and prints comprise what appear to be randomly juxtaposed and
multilayered images, or images placed on top of one other with deliberately illogical
techniques, in which he combines original and appropriated imagery. Imagery he uses
includes items from popular culture, such as Donald Duck, and pieces from art history,
such as parts from a Caravaggio painting. Salle has worked with different media and
processes. Many of his works consist of juxtaposed images, where he takes abstraction
and the human figure. He manipulates images by combining a variety of different styles,
recognizable imagery, and textures.
David Salle
David Salle, Collage Oil Painting, 2013
Jeffrey Lynn Koons, born January 21, 1955, is an American artist recognized for his
work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects,
including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. He
lives and works in both New York City and his hometown of York, Pennsylvania.
Jeff Koons rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as part of a generation of artists who
explored the meaning of art in a newly media-saturated era. He gained recognition in
the 1980s and subsequently set up a factory-like studio in a SoHo loft on the corner of
Houston Street and Broadway in New York. It was staffed with over 30 assistants, each
assigned to a different aspect of producing his work—in a similar mode as Andy
Warhol's Factory. Koon's work is produced using a method known as art fabrication.
Commissioned by the Deutsche Guggenheim in 1999, Koons created the first seven
paintings of the new series, Easyfun, comprising paintings and wall-mounted
sculptures. In 2001, Koons undertook a series of paintings, Easyfun-Ethereal, using a
collage approach that combined bikinis, food, and landscapes painted under his
supervision by assistants. The series eventually expanded to twenty-four paintings, and
was followed by his Popeye and Hulk Elvis series, from 2002 - 2014.
Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons
collage paintings & assemblages, Popeye and Hulk Elvis series, from 2002 - 2014
Jeff Koons, Tea & Green Spiral, Easyfun-Ethereal Series, 1999 - 2001
Jeff Koons, Easyfun-Ethereal Series, 1999 - 2001 "Grotto"
Jeff Koons – 'Art is a Vehicle of Acceptance' | TateShots
https://youtu.be/XTnPq0uIUds