John Stezaker: Collages

Overview

Forget what your eight-year-old self knows about collages and abandon your trusty Clag glue pot. The newest exhibition at the Anna Schwartz Gallery gives sleek insight into the art form using images from Hollywood's golden era.

British artist John Stezaker has been making collages and photomontages for decades but has only very recently turned heads in the art sphere. In some collages, Stezaker creates interesting and often creepy contrasts by cutting and reassembling mid-20th century cinema memorabilia and agency head-shots of unknown actors. In others, the artist cleverly and purposefully places picturesque postcards over the expressions of failed movie stars, to unsettling effect.

Although recognition was belated, Stezaker is certainly receiving attention for his artwork now; he won the 2012 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (even though he is technically not a photographer) and held an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art as part of the 19th Biennale of Sydney earlier this year.

If you think all collages are the same, be prepared to be proven wrong.