In 1968, Jean Baudrillard (Bow-dree-yard), a French philosopher who heavily influenced American ideas on popular culture and consumerism, wrote a book called The System of Objects. In it, he describes many reasons why people make collections. Baudrillard expands that something changes when “the pure object, devoid of any function or completely abstracted from its use, takes on a strictly subjective status: it becomes part of a collection.” By collecting: a book, a table, a painting, a bolt of cloth, collectors separate their finds from their original use and transform them into a possession with a new personal meaning. According to Baudrillard, this ritual of recontextualization may describe one’s identity or passion, manage anxiety and help compensate in critical periods, or help to provide a sense of control and continuity in society.

Collage is to arrange visually pieces from an assemblage, which is a meaningful grouping. Approaching collage and assemblage as a form of “collecting” lays bare the ties between material and meaning. The symbolism of the collected objects and the form the collection takes may reveal the artist’s need to ritualistically amass and reinterpret. In this exhibition, Collect/Apply, the surface of the artist’s finished works act as a substrate, revealing the multifaceted nature of the materials themselves, whether based on their aesthetic qualities or as a tool for reference and representation. This exhibition features four artists of the Delaware Contemporary’s ArtSource Artist Registry: Emmanuel Aboagye, Eric Anthony Berdis, Andy Vible, and Barbara Ziselberger, who are all working with collage methods.

Emmanuel Aboagye uses photographic source materials to build complex monoprints that explore identity through a collection of intimate subjects, textures, and compositions. In a similar vein, Eric Anthony Berdis layers collections of printed symbols, fiber, and found objects to form sculptural assemblages that explore place making and the self. Andy Vible uses found materials to create the painted appearance of collage, critiquing the limits of communication through symbols while expanding our understanding of depth through the medium. Also working with materiality, Barbara Ziselberger explores the edges of agency with found objects and printed surfaces through her abstraction of collaged collections.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS:

Emmanuel Aboagye

Eric Anthony Berdis

Andy Vible

Barbara Ziselberger