John Stezaker: Lost World

British artist John Stezaker creates collages that are often deceptively simple but contain a deep longing for a lost world. He works from an archive of out-of-date images, including old film stills, vintage actor headshots, and antique postcards, and is drawn to the space between convention and idiosyncrasy. His work also includes poignant found-object sculptures and a film, Crowd, that presents hundreds of film stills of crowd scenes in a bewildering blur.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 86 pages
Publication date: 01 February 2018
Publisher: Ridinghouse

British artist John Stezaker, born in 1949, is renowned for his distinctive and often deceptively simple collages. He has been creating art since the 1970s, but his fame has only recently gained widespread recognition. In 2011, Stezaker's work was showcased in a retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, and in 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, despite not being a photographer himself.

According to Stezaker, collage is about "stuff that has lost its immediate relationship with the world and involves 'a yearning for a lost world.' He works from an archive of out-of-date images, primarily old film stills, vintage actor headshots, and antique postcards. These images come in standard sizes and are highly conventionalized, with all variations on themes. Art critic David Campany describes Stezaker as being drawn to the "very slim space between convention and idiosyncrasy."

In addition to collages, Stezaker's "Lost World" exhibition includes poignant found-object sculptures. These sculptures consist of a selection of antique mannequin hands, offering a repertoire of gestures. There is also a film titled "Crowd," which presents hundreds of film stills of crowd scenes, each for one frame only, in a bewildering blur.

Stezaker's unique approach to collage and sculpture has garnered him international acclaim, and his work continues to be celebrated for its exploration of the boundaries between art and everyday life.

Weight: 528g
Dimension: 265 x 275 x 12 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781909932432