John Stezaker

I also went to see the three-decade retrospective of another important British artist, John Stezaker, at White Chapel Gallery. I've known this for some time, but now it's definitely official - I love collage! So, as you've probably guessed, Stezaker's work is an art of collage and appropriation, of putting unlikely images together and in doing so creating something new.

Some of my favourite pieces are the ones that seem to create metaphors from the collage assembly. This seems to be the case in both 'Sonata' (2009) and 'Bridge' (2007), for instance, both shown below.

While 'Bridge' is suggestive of the relationship between the depicted father and son, 'Sonata' reflects what we might think of as a dreamscape, perhaps conjured up for the female pianist by the beauty of the music she plays.

I also really loved the 'Mask' and 'Pair' series' which transpose landcapes onto faces in beautiful and haunting ways.

Not only do these collages show up the sophistication of the human perceptual system (in that perceive continuities between the human figures and their facial landscapes), they also show up the way in which we as viewers seek meaning. Somehow and for some reason, these surreal images till conjure an affective response.

One last mention is the (2006) 'Love' images:

The simple act of overlaying the eye area of the same image gives the impression of enhanced attraction, of sensual stimulation.

Ultimately, I can't talk about everything - I would if I could as I was so overwhelmed and excited and intrigued by all the pieces in the exhibition - and I have to say that the images shown here don't do justice to seeing them for real.

The John Stezaker exhibtion is on at White Chapel Gallery until 18th March 2011.