Wednesday 16 February 2011

Friedrich Strasse: John Stezaker



I was about to post something about my recent trip to the John Stezaker exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery but then realised my friend Friedrich Strasse has already done a far more thorough job of it than I would have managed.


Friedrich Strasse: John Stezaker: "As anyone who knows me personally will know, collage and photomontage are things for which I have quite a considerable penchant. People lik..."


I am a huge fan of Stezaker's work and this exhibition is inexplicably beautiful. If I was prone to gushing, which of course I am not, I would exclaim that in many ways, for me, these works constitute absolute perfection. I walked round 3 times and am going back next week.

The only part FS doesn't mention is the Third Person Archive... hundreds of tiny stamp-sized fragments of larger illustrations that isolate the minuscule figures that feature as "extras" in larger scenes, when the more prominent action is elsewhere. Completely captivating and sort of life-affirming. Alright I'm embarrassing myself now so here you go, if you have 30 quid go geddit.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Third-Person-Archive-John-Stezaker/dp/3865603718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297892243&sr=8-1


1 comment:

  1. Apologies for the delay in responding. I was away for a week. It was a brilliant exhibition, wasn't it? I wasn't sure what book I had ordered from Amazon until it came. It was the catalogue at a slightly cheaper price than at the gallery. I forgot about the Third Person Archive photographs and that's why I didn't include them. I liked them, though. They put me in mind of looking down at the pavement from up on high in a tall buliding - that kind of unsettling, sinister mystery you can sometimes feel. Changing the subject, I'm meeting Zoe at 5 o'clock tomorrow. Come and join us, if you like.

    ReplyDelete