Suchitra Mattai
The artworks in this exhibition are assembled from parts: sometimes scavenged, sometimes made by the artist, sometimes bought, and sometimes given. Originating in the early 20th century, collage and assemblage—the term for sculptural collage—were revolutionary because they could be made from anything. Art no longer had to be precious or refined. Moreover, art did not have to be a perfect, seamless whole. The edges and seams, not to mention disjunctions and messy bits, could be relished. Collage seems like a particularly apt response to our world awash with manufactured things piling up in homes, storage facilities, and garbage dumps. Perhaps, too, collage’s refusal to smooth over all the cracks makes it a metaphor for the instability of our time, a broken mirror reflecting a broken world.