Peter Blake: Collage

- Blurb -

Peter Blake (b. 1932) has remained constant and ground-breaking in his exploration of the medium of collage throughout his career spanning seven decades. Most recognised for his iconic 1967 cover for The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper' s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, Blake already understood the potential of collage as an art form as a student at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s, where his reputation as a founder and key proponent of the Pop Art movement was established. An avid collector, Blake' s collages combine junkyard treasures and found objects with images from popular culture. He revisits themes drawn from his childhood - the entertainments of the circus, the glamour of the cinema and the showmanship of the wrestling ring - weaving detailed, often humorous narratives. From his early paintings depicting assembled fragments of popular imagery, to his found object constructions and his most recent digital print photo-collages, Blake has broadened the scope of what collage can be and communicate. Peter Blake Collage provides the first comprehensive survey of Peter Blake' s work in the medium. It features an introductory text by Peter Blake, an essay by Patrick Elliott, Senior Curator of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, a recent interview with Peter Blake by Natalie Rudd, Senior Curator of the Arts Council Collection, over 250 colour reproductions and a newly compiled illustrated chronology. Published in in partnership with Waddington Custot.