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| Proof that small can be smart by Melvyn Minnaar | ||
| One can argue that just about all that counts as contemporary communication can be described as " collages " of some sort - think of how sound and video clips are mixed in with words on websites, how images morph in movies. We live in the age and world of hectic, mass communication and collages. But take a moment's respite and consider how sweet and revolutionary the idea was in art-making circles, way back at the beginning of the last century, when people like the Cubists started to take seriously the idea of sticking things together to make pictures in a medium they started calling " collage " ( originally from the French " coller " - to paste). It was Braque, shortly followed by Picasso, who glued together bits of wallpaper and newsprint to make eye-popping pictures in a process that collected fancy names such as papier colle - a variation of collage. Of course, it is all old hat two centuries later, but Michael Taylor, a smart illustrator, who also put together this delightful little modern-day tribute to that old tradition, shows how clever that latter technique - sticking paper onto paper in a gentle manipu- lation of dimensions - works in an energetic small, all saying picture like Enters:God. Collage has an inherent playfulness and tease about it and artists like Liza Grobler, Hannah Morris and Julia Rosa Clark have a natural affinity to perform the add-on and stick-to game with style and finesse. Lynette Bester, who is disposed to sculptural and spatial exploration - and a talent to watch - has come up with some gritty poetic pieces. But it is up to one Asha Zero, purportedly an artist of shifting identity, to bring the most clever edge to The Collage Show. His contributions look like collages, but are, in fact, meticulously contrived paintings! Dashing and deliciously funny, he takes the mickey out of good old Braque and any smooth-operating, present- day graffito artist. His paintings take up in a nifty way much of the irony that motivated the original medium way back, but also pay a sly tribute to the visual overload that modern communication kicks up. Presented in the cool, unassuming space of this recently opened gallery at the Old Biscuit Factory, this group show is more proof that small can be smart and that there is plenty of new and young talent out there . | ||
| Cape Times, Thursday, November 23, 2006 Exhibition: The collage show, What if the world, The old biscuit mill, Woodstock, Cape town November 15 - December 6 2006 | ||
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