Easthampton, Massachusetts, USA. Louise Laplante's collages are based on free association, using vintage periodical and book images to create discrete worlds merging image, color, and placement. They play with concepts and redefine reality. Their elements are combined intuitively sometimes with an idea of what she wants to achieve and sometimes just letting the elements themselves drive the image, one thing leading to another. There is always something of a surrealist element to collage, letting logic and reality go. These images were driven either by the text in a chosen element or by the configuration of that element. The results are pictorial “dreams”, bits of reality recombined to produce a new free-form invented world.

Quietly bubbling at the edges of ‘human’ decency, the grotesque is the affect of radical seduction. Inspired by the divinatory practice of the Tarot, Alexandra Neuman has created this interactive card deck which employs the potential of play, chance, and continuous reshuffling towards unraveling the humanist doctrine of separation.

Silvio Severino at Atelier Sinthetico in Porto Alegre, Brazil, through 5 October 2024. The title, "É DADA, Meu Bem!" (It's DADA, baby!), loaded with irony and humor, is a sharp reflection on the ongoing debate about what constitutes art, and more specifically, the role of collage as a legitimate and powerful form of artistic expression. Silvio Severino uses collage to explore the complexities of contemporary society and sexuality, which are central themes in his work.

Nathan Gluck's Early Surrealist Collages at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, USA through 26 October 2024. “Unlocking the Mind: Nathan Gluck’s Early Surrealist Collages” brings together a selection of early career artworks by Nathan Gluck (1918-2008) spanning approximately ten years, from the late 1930s through the late 1940s. The works on view reflect the young artists deep appreciation of modern surrealist masters like Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Domenico de Chirico, and include experiments with narrative prose and original poetry. His collages function as markers of his life while growing up in a post-depression household between the First and Second World Wars.

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, USA. Beyond creating compelling images that have an emotional punch, John James Pron feels it is important (as an architect who teaches the ethical responsibility to use one’s talents to make better communities) to now use his compositional and drawing skills to raise awarenesses of the critical issues affecting human lives, even advocating for significant social changes. 

Saturday, 5 October 2024, 2-4PM at Kolaj Institute Gallery

During his Solo Residency, North Carolina-based artist Nate Hester will create two large-scale (64×44″) works on paper for the Tokyo International Art Fair. He will use New Orleans as his inspiration for the work, writing that the city is the “confluence of many natural, political, historic, cultural and ethnic influences.” He will also use his time at Kolaj Institute to investigate the technique of bas-relief paper pulp sculpting. On Saturday, October 5, 2024, 2-4PM, the public is invited to visit Kolaj Institute Gallery to meet the artist and see how the artwork is progressing. Learn more about Nate Hester’s Solo Residency: 

https://kolajinstitute.org/solo-residencies/

Final deadline to apply: Sunday, 6 October 2024. Intended as a clinic for working artists at any level, participants in this workshop will explore how they go about making art and putting it out into the world. Participants will explore critical concepts and collage taxonomies as a way to develop and refine the language they use to talk about their own practice and to develop a broad view of the creative landscape in which they operate. Participants will finish the workshop with a deeper understanding of their practice; a strong statement of practice that can be used to communicate with curators, editors, and art professionals; a portfolio of consistent artwork (or a plan to make one); and tools for growing or developing their practice.

Early deadline to apply: Sunday, 20 October 2024. In this four-week workshop, artists will turn a body of work or a project into a zine, art catalog, monograph, or book. We will explore different models of publishing and types of book projects. We will walk through the steps and support one another as we create publishing projects and prepare to put them out into the world. Participants will present and receive feedback on page spreads. Presentations will speak to issues around copyright and appropriation, getting the book printed, and launching and marketing the book. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the role publishing can play in their own art practice. They will finish the workshop with a publishing project or create a detailed plan for one.

Final Deadline to Apply: Thursday, 10 October 2024. Queer Women’s Artist Lab: New Orleans will take as its premise that 21st century queer women’s identity is the culmination of decades of construction and ask: What does it mean to be a queer woman in the 21st century? The goal of the Queer Women’s Artist Lab: New Orleans is to equip artists with tools and strategies for picking up the unfinished work of history and speak to contemporary civic discourse around social, economic, and environmental issues. Through interactive sessions in the Lab and panel discussions, artists will explore their process and practice; present a slideshow of their work; receive supportive, critical, curatorial feedback about their ideas; and discuss contemporary issues.

At Kolaj Institute, our philosophy is that if we bring artists together, explore ideas and concepts, share knowledge, we can stretch and develop as artists. When we bring that knowledge and skill into our communities, we raise the standing of collage and contribute to the civic discourse. Kolaj Institute's Artist Development Program is a collection of three core workshops for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop and expand their collage-based artist practice and work towards professional goals, particularly in the areas of exhibitions and publishing.

NEXT SESSION: Collage Publishing Workshop

starts Mondays, 11 November 2024

DEADLINE TO APPLY

Sunday, 27 October 2024