Mixed Media Collage

Collage is an art form that is defined as an assemblage of various paper elements such as clippings, bits of paper, or photographs which are glued together on a paper or canvas substrate to form a new composition. Collages can also include objects or even painted elements, most famously in the cubist compositions of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early 20th century.

Collage generally takes one of two forms: two-dimensional pastiches or three-dimensional assemblages. But these distinctions can be problematic, such as in the compositions of the esteemed visual artist Kurt Schwitters. While many of the late artist's works exclusively employ paper elements including newspaper and advertisement clippings, Schwitters also integrated found objects such as wire and buttons in some pieces. Collage continues to play an integral role in visual art production as contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst and Mark Bradford explore the possibilities of the art form today.

Quick Facts

• Collage, while generally associated with the advent of modernism, dates back to the invention of paper in China circa 200 B.C.
• The art form of collage was not popularized until the 10th century when Japanese artists began to apply glued paper adorned with calligraphic script to their scrolls
• Collage experienced a momentous rebirth with the advent of modernism and the Dada movement in the early 20th century as artists such as Hannah Hoch breathed new life into the medium