Collage as a fine art medium has come of age during an opportune period—when our diverse field of input has grown exponentially and mainstream monoculture has, fortunately, collapsed. In some ways, the nature of collage is to disrupt and subsume other media and messages. Collage can challenge dominant narratives or offer fresh identities, formal feasts and dynamic stories. Of course, it can do many other things, as found in “Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage,” now on view at The Phillips Collection. But where did collage emerge, and what is it doing in the studio practice of Black artists in the U.S. today?...
...A few participants in the exhibition who now practice in major U.S. urban hubs come from as far as Haiti and Nigeria, bringing that history and experience with them in their work. One artist, Joiri Minaya, while born in New York City, was raised in the Dominican Republic—later returning to the U.S., where she now lives and works. Her sumptuous print on paper, Woman-landscape (On Opacity) #4, from 2020, exudes a retro island vacation poster vibe. This photo collage consists of illustrations and images that add up to a fantasy figure stereotype—the fashion model smile, the rippling bounty of hair, the bikini-cradled bosom...
