Comments are subject to review

Description & Provenance: Fiat No.7 by Kareem Rizk. Original handmade collage on paper, mounted on canvas. Constructed from found papers and found imagery. This collage is just one example of many that is representational of the very distinct nostalgic and ephemeral collage style of Kareem Rizk. The weathered and tactile surfaces, often depicting a vintage or retro aesthetic, are strategically layered with a consistent emphasis on design and dynamic composition which can often be referenced with Minimalism. This strong emphasis on design and layout is attributed to the artist's training in Graphic Design. Refined color combinations, typography, solid shapes and nostalgic imagery are just some of the prominent elements in the construction of his collages. Often there is no preconceived concept or message, therefore the viewer has the opportunity to create their own story when observing the work. BIOGRAPHY Born 1982, Melbourne, Australia. Collage and mixed media artist, illustrator and designer. Living and working in Copenhagen, Denmark. Graduate of Monash University with a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication (2004). Previously worked as a Graphic Designer at Melbourne’s #1 selling newspaper, The Herald Sun. Since his shift of focus to fine art and illustration in 2006 and his pursuit of developing his style, Rizk has been cutting and pasting his way towards a unique and contemporary style of collage and mixed media art that has earned him international recognition, as well as continuous success working with numerous galleries, fine art publishers and creative companies all around the world. Collecting mostly old magazines and books but also scraps from torn billboards and street posters, discarded tickets, postcards, brochures and catalogues, Rizk has been sorting through op shops, flea markets, garage sales and city streets around the world to find the images and ephemera that have found their way into his very nostalgic and weathered collage and mixed media works. Working mediums include collage, acrylic, oil pastel, pencil, solvent transfers and acrylic transfers. The work is highly textured and often multi-layered with a nostalgic and weathered quality. Rizk’s works can often be vibrant with colour, while others display a very refined or minimal palette. Working methods also extend to digital collage with a very gritty and realistic display of texture and layering. The digital work began as an experiment in blurring the line between handmade collage and digital collage. Other work includes freelance illustration, graphic design and fine art commissions for various clients including art buyers and collectors, editorial publications, galleries, universities, the boutique fashion industry and the music and entertainment industry. Exhibitions include solo shows and group shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Miami, Vancouver, London, Berlin, Copenhagen, West Cork (Ireland), Stockholm, Zurich, Barcelona, Madrid and Milan. Rizk's work has been published in numerous art magazines and books and his work is held in private collections worldwide.

Origin, Encyclopedia & Researched Articles:

Encyclopedia Name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collage

A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. A collage may include newspaper and magazine clippings, bits of colored or hand-made papers, found imagery, photographs and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century.<br><br>



The term collage derives from the French word "coller" meaning "glue". This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art. Techniques of collage were first used at the time of the invention of paper in China, around 200 BC. The use of collage, however, remained very limited until the 10th century in Japan, when calligraphers began to apply glued paper, using texts on surfaces, when writing their poems.<br><br>



Despite the pre-twentieth-century use of collage-like application techniques, some art authorities argue that collage, properly speaking, did not emerge until after 1900, in conjunction with the early stages of modernism. For example, the Tate Gallery's online art glossary states that collage "was first used as an artists' technique in the twentieth century." According to the Guggenheim Museum's online art glossary, collage is an artistic concept associated with the beginnings of modernism, and entails much more than the idea of gluing something onto something else. The glued-on patches which Braque and Picasso added to their canvases offered a new perspective on painting when the patches "collided with the surface plane of the painting." In this perspective, collage was part of a methodical reexamination of the relation between painting and sculpture, and these new works "gave each medium some of the characteristics of the other," according to the Guggenheim essay.<br><br>



Furthermore, these chopped-up bits of newspaper introduced fragments of externally referenced meaning into the collision: "References to current events, such as the war in the Balkans, and to popular culture enriched the content of their art." This juxtaposition of signifiers, "at once serious and tongue-in-cheek," was fundamental to the inspiration behind collage: "Emphasizing concept and process over end product, collage has brought the incongruous into meaningful congress with the ordinary.

Verbal History:

Backgrounds are a key aspect in my work. A composition will often become apparent only after the background or foundation has been established. This very fundamental reference to construction in my work has it's roots in my own personal background, particularly my childhood. As a child I loved to make things with my hands and construct things out of all kinds of materials. From building a cubby house, to making die cast models, to piecing together a spaceship or castle made of Lego, to building a complex marble alley made from cardboard tubes and all kinds of plastic and metal objects - I was always occupied with creative things that involved a process of design and construction.<br><br>



Differences in the tones and textures of the aged or discolored papers that have been glued down to construct a background can often determine how a piece will form. Shapes and lines start to appear almost like a loose grid. The distribution of weight can also become apparent in particular areas on the working surface and so a piece will often be flipped sideways or upside down and a new direction for the piece will suddenly become apparent.<br><br>



There is also a sense of history that is subtly suggested simply in the physical process of layering, peeling back, scratching and tearing that is involved in building up a composition. This sense of history is suggested in the obvious notion of time passing while building up the layers, but it is also evident in the placement and movement of the tactile elements. Often areas are worked over, covered up and scratched out. A history of movements and placements becomes evident much like the history that is recorded while working in a digital software program like Photoshop. Except in the case of working with real tactile elements there is no 'Undo' function. So fingerprints, glue stains and the detritus left behind from torn paper is often permanent.<br><br>



Like most of the images, elements and mediums that make their way onto the working surface, scattered bits of typography are usually scratched or scraped to create a weathered or distressed texture - further emphasizing a notion of history or weathering. Many words are also left untouched so that they are readable. Sometimes these words are relevant to the selected imagery and sometimes they are not. Unrelated words often add their own form of dynamism and create interesting juxtapositions from the simple fact that they are not related. These often chance occurrences of interesting combination of words have their roots in the subconscious but are also referenced with Surrealism.<br><br>



Colored geometric shapes are often introduced to establish further dynamism and structure as well as introducing a point of hierarchy in relation to other elements on the working surface. This method is also applied in the form of acrylic paint, oil pastel and pencil in creating blocks and shapes of color.

Information:

Personal Story: