Today, thanks to a friend, I discovered an exciting artist who works in collage. Jacques de la Villegle, a Frenchman who moved to Paris in 1949, started to collect posters from fences, street sign posts, anywhere on the streets where posters were plastered. Often a newer poster would be placed on an older one, and then a newer one yet, until there were many layers of posters weathered, ripped, or torn. Villegle took these posters and mounted them on canvas, mostly as he found them, sometimes rearranged I expect, and created stunning art. A particularly insightful analysis by Josh Clark is worth reading.
As a seventh-grade writing teacher, I often had my students create found poetry. In a found poem, you take words or phrases from someone else’s work and arrange them into a poem of your own. It ‘s quite amazing – I liked using Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt and, using his words, 35 students came up with 35 entirely different poems.
I had never considered found art, however. I’ve been thinking about some “recycled” art I’d like to do, but to “lift” an entire piece as is, well – it’s brilliant. Villegle took work that had already been created for him by the layers of posters and the weathering, put it on canvas, and called it a day. It’s got my mind spinning. Villegle said, “I like to save myself the creative agony. The whole world makes work for me. I only have to collect it.”
He “only” has to collect it – I don’t think it’s quite so simple. He had to “see” it and understand the possibilities. Besides stunning images, it’s a bit of a history lesson if you can decipher the layers.
My collages are composed mostly of my own photographs, but I’m going to be seeing the world with slightly different eyes right now, thanks to Villegle.
If you are in the Bakersfield, CA environs, my work will be on display at the Metro Gallery through the month of October. I’m excited about this show but also what new turns I may take in future work – thanks to sifting ideas like found art and turning them into something different.
