Comments on: July Show Review — Beginning the Middle: Collage by Marin Fiske

By: Idetrorce

Idetrorce — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:45:52 +0000

very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce

By: John Dixon

John Dixon — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:08:19 +0000

Ah, you’ve introduced me to another beneficiary of immortal MERZ.

This piece makes me think of “Kots” by KS—

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davepalmer/cutandpaste/schwitters_big1.html

Thanks, and see you around town,
J A D

By: brandonlong

brandonlong — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:28:20 +0000

Thanks, I don’t think I’ve seen that one before. One of the things that interests me about Schwitters work is how it ages. I’m sure that “For Kate” didn’t really look like it does now when it was first created. The paper has yellowed over time.

On another note, have you seen the work of Sigmar Polke? He’s a German artist who doesn’t necessarily do collage, but paints on printed fabric in a very collage-like manner.

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/P/polke/sit_correctly.jpg.html

By: John Andrew Dixon

John Andrew Dixon — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 02:06:36 +0000

Without a doubt, he is the grandfather of pop art.

Just take a look at “For Kate,” 1947—

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/s/schwitters/for_kate.jpg

By: brandonlong

brandonlong — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:09:07 +0000

John, I would agree. Kurt Schwitters usually doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being the first artist to really push collage further than the paper on the surface. With his use of found objects and thrown away papers, could he also be considered the first pop artist? Thanks for the great links. Hopefully everyone will share their finds on this blog.

Thanks.
Brandon Long

By: John Andrew Dixon

John Andrew Dixon — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:03:28 +0000

Thanks for the kind remarks, Brandon. I’m inspired by many fine contemporary mixed-media artists, but we’re all heirs to the seminal work of Kurt Schwitters. Although Duchamp and Picasso “dabbled” in collage, it was Schwitters who perfected it during a lifetime of devoted labor. He has clearly influenced a century of visual creativity far beyond two-dimensional media, including sculpture, film, and performance art. Some informative sites to visit are:

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/S/schwitters.html#images

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davepalmer/cutandpaste/schwitters.html

http://www.kurt-schwitters.org/

http://fp.armitt.plus.com/ks_an_appreciation_by_russell_mills.htm

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/hatton/collection/Merzbarn%20Page.htm