Collage (From the French: coller, to glue) is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.The term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art. Collage may include: newspaper clippings, paint, bits of colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found objects, combined together together to create a new work of art. Collage is an artistic concept associated with the beginnings of modernism, and entails much more than the idea of gluing something onto something else. The glued-on patches which Braque and Picasso added to their canvases offered a new perspective on painting when the patches collided with the surface plane of the painting. In this perspective, collage was part of a methodical reexamination of the relation between painting and sculpture, and these new works gave each medium some of the characteristics of the other. These chopped-up bits of newspaper introduced fragments of externally referenced meaning into the collision: References to current events, and to popular culture enriched the content of the art. This juxtaposition of signifiers, at once serious and tongue-in-cheek, was fundamental to the inspiration behind collage: Emphasizing concept and process over end product, collage has brought the incongruous into meaningful congress with the ordinary.

The Dove 1964 Collage by Romare Bearden

Picasso and Braque pioneered the art of collage in their shared studio around the turn of the 20th century. Their work helped usher in the dawn of abstract art.

The glued-on patches which Braque and Picasso added to their canvases offered a new perspective on painting when the patches "collided with the surface plane of the painting." and these new works "gave each medium some of the characteristics of the other," according to a Guggenheim essay. Furthermore, these chopped-up bits of newspaper introduced fragments of externally referenced meaning into the collision: "References to current events, such as war, and to popular culture enriched the content of their art." This juxtaposition, at once serious and tongue-in-cheek," was fundamental to the inspiration behind collage: "Emphasizing concept and process over end product, collage has brought the incongruous into meaningful congress with the ordinary."

Decoupage is a type of collage usually defined as a craft. It is the process of placing a picture into an object for decoration. Decoupage can involve adding multiple copies of the same image, cut and layered to add apparent depth. The picture is often coated with varnish or some other sealant for protection.  20th-century artists who produced decoupage works include Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. The most famous decoupage work is Matisse's Blue Nude II.

African American Artist Romare Bearden raised the collage to a high art form in his sophisticated cominations incorporating African inspired abstraction with modernist urban imagery.

David Hockney developed a distinct style of Photo Montage often using Poloroid photos combined together.

Robert Rauchenburg developed a unique style of 3 dimensional collage known as Assemblage, in which found objects are incorporated into original painting and or sculpture.

Jerry Uelsmann has created original darkroom prints by layering negatives in an enlarger using an elaborate and intensive system of registration to line up the images, as in the image below

USING COLLAGE AND PHOTO MONTAGE IN THE STUDIO

The assembling of collage is modern and inventive. Through the exploration of collage in its various representations, create a finished work that takes a new look at a chosen topic. Study the history of collage from Matisse's decoupage and Picasso's early collages, to Hockney's Photo Montages and Rauchenburg's Assemblages.  Brainstorm objects and surfaces that would make ideal studies.

• Examine how collage was introduced as a new form of modern art beginning in the early 1900's.

What are some ways in which collage created an entirely new form of artistic expression?

    
• Discover through hands on exploration how collage describe or reflects a specific artistic goal.

What subject might you select to represent a specific artistic statement?

• Understand how an understanding of collage is an essential aspect of communication and can transcend language/culture.

What does your collage say about you? What were you
trying to say? How successful were you in communicating this idea?



Both of the following 2 Collages were created as class collaborative projects. The first is a 3D relief collage depicting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The second collage was a simple assignment to a beginning photo class to create a photo montage where each student took 1 photo of a part of a school bus and then later assembled the images into one large photomontage.

The collage below was created using a combination of found magazine images and original photoshop design:

Former Digital Institute student Vu Pham created the collage below was without using actual photos in the finished artwork, simply by creating squares in Photoshop.

My former student Rolande Akotsu combined found images with original Illustrator design to create the composite collage below.

Eric Ntrakwa, a former Digital Institute student, created the collage below by combining original and found photographs into a layered photoshop collage.