John Stezaker's Collages Using Black-And-White Film Photos and Old

Source: Guardian, The {Review} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 29, January 2011 Page: 16,17 Area: 2166 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 Phone: 020 3353 2000 Keyword: Whitechapel Gallery

Dillon, Brian, John Stezaker: What a carve up, The Guardian, 29 January 2011

John Stezaker’s collages using black-and-white ﬁ lm photos and old postcards are nostalgic but also uncanny and absurd. As a career-spanning exhibition of his work opens at the Whitechapel Gallery, Brian Dillon pays tribute to a sly romantic What a Source: Guardian, The {Review} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 29, January 2011 hPage: 16,17 Area: 2166 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 Phone: 020 3353 2000 carveKeyword: Whitechapel Gallery up

image might be used to make art, he English artist thus obviating the tedium of free- John Stezaker, hand drawing. But when he took the whose uncanny machine to his bedroom, he found collages are all he could squeeze on to a sheet of the subject of a paper was a corner of the picture: career-spanning Big Ben, a few turrets and a stretch exhibition at the of red sky. He tried painting over it in Whitechapel Gal- his best approximation of an “expres- lery, tells a revelatory tale about the sionist-psychedelic” style, but when T he turned off the projector the result origins of his luminous art. Stezaker was born in Worcester in 1949; when was “horrifi c”. he was 13 his family moved to London, In light of the artist’s subsequent and around this time his parents sup- romance with the found photograph, planted their crackling old snapshot this anecdote is almost too apt to be albums with a new slide projector. true. By the time he enrolled at the Slade in the late 60s, his main infl u- The teenager was fascinated by the ences were Gerhard Richter and Sigmar apparatus, and especially by the sin- Polke: painters whose use of photo- gle demonstration slide that came graphs overlapped with and trumped, with it: a wide-angle photograph of in expressive terms, the pop art of a two men overlooking the Thames, few years earlier. But Stezaker was a with the Palace of Westminster and student too at a time when a wholesale a lurid sunset behind them. Stezaker critique of the pop-cultural image was swiftly grasped that the projected being launched by such thinkers as

John Stezaker’s collages using black-and-white ﬁ lm photos and old postcards are nostalgic but also uncanny and absurd. As a career-spanning exhibition of his work

Source:opensGuardian, at the WhitechapelThe {Review} Gallery, Brian Dillon pays tribute to a sly romantic Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 29, January 2011 Page: 16,17 Area: 2166 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 Phone: 020 3353 2000 Source: Guardian, The {Review} Keyword: Whitechapel Gallery Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 29, January 2011 Page: 16,17 WhatArea: a2166 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 h Phone: 020 3353 2000 Keyword: Whitechapel Gallery John Stezaker’s collages using black-and-whitecarve fi lm photos and old postcards areup nostalgic but also uncanny and absurd. As a career-spanning exhibition of his work image might be used to make art, to gauge his careful distance from the opens at the Whitechapel Gallery, Brian Dillonhe pays English tribute artist toGuy a sly thusDebord; romanticobviating the Situtationists’ the tedium of scur- free- tradition of photomontage – a term John Stezaker, riloushand repurposing drawing. ofBut media when imagery he took the he avoids, in favour of “collage” . As whose uncanny became machine an exemplary to his bedroom, strategy he for found Stezaker sees it, the great monteurs collages are him,all alongside he could his squeeze abiding, on and to a then sheet of such as John Heartfi eld and George the subject of a unfashionable,paper was a interest corner ofin thesurrealism. picture: Grosz always worked at some r e m o v e career-spanning (He recallsBig Ben, being a few shown turrets Max and Ernst’s a stretch from the image itself – indeed, this exhibition at the Une ofsemaine red sky. de He bonté, tried based painting on the over it in was often the critical or satirical point Whitechapel Gal- illustrationshis best approximation to earlier novels, of by an Wil- “expres- of their work: to conjure radical ideas lery, tells a revelatory tale about the liamsionist-psychedelic” Coldstream on his fi rst style, day but at the when out of pictures that otherwise al- T Slade.)he turnedSchooled off also the onprojector the recently the result origins of his luminous art. Stezaker lured the everyday viewer. With his was born in Worcester in 1949; when translatedwas “horrifi writings c”. of Walter Benjamin, residual romanticism and often frank he was 13 his family moved to London, for whomIn light the conjunctionof the artist’s of subsequent photo- What a graph and caption had altered forever embrace of 20th-century glamour, and around this time his parents sup- romance with the found photograph, Stezaker is perhaps closer to an artist planted their crackling old snapshot howthis we lookedanecdote at images,is almost Stezaker too apt to be such as Hannah Höch, whose Album albums with a new slide projector. begantrue. making By the work time with he enrolled text and at pic- the of 1933 juxtaposes press imagery with h tures,Slade intent in theon exposinglate 60s, histhe main mystique infl u- The teenager was fascinated by the ravishing fashion illustrations and of theences visual. were Gerhard Richter and Sigmar apparatus, and especially by the sin- fragments of a sublime or disturbing ItPolke: was a movepainters that whose was very use ofmuch photo- of gle demonstration slide that came its timegraphs – London-based overlapped with artists and such trumped, as nature. In Stezaker’s collages as in with it: a wide-angle photograph of Victorin Burginexpressive and terms,Susan Hillerthe pop (whose art of a Höch’s, images sidle up to and seduce two men overlooking the Thames, ownfew Tate years Britain earlier. show But opens Stezaker on Tues- was a one another, shying from overarching with the Palace of Westminster and day)student were doing too atparallel a time things when ina wholesale very arguments or narratives. carvea lurid sunset behind them.up Stezaker That’s not to say that there isn’t diff erentcritique registers of the –pop-cultural but for Stezaker image it was swiftly grasped that the projected was beinga dead launched end. He suspectedby such thinkers that his as a degree of knowing distance – and image might be used to make art, territory was the collective fascina- a strain of disturbing violence – in he English artist thus obviating the tedium of free- tion with image itself rather than the Stezaker’s work. It is fi rst of all a his- John Stezaker, hand drawing. But when he took the torical distance. Early on, he began whose uncanny machine to his bedroom, he found conceptual urge to undermine that fas- to work with actors’ portraits (mostly cination. At this point, in the mid- 70s, collages are Reproducedall by he Durrants could under squeeze licence on from to thea sheet NLA (newspapers), of CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or otherblack-and-white) copyright owner. No and further fi lm stills from that sliver of sunset from his adoles- the subject of a copying (includingpaper printingwas a cornerof digital ofcuttings), the picture: digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licencethe from middle the copyright of the 20th century – im- owner. All FTBig content Ben, isa copyrightfew turrets The Financialand a stretch Times Ltd. cence unexpectedly returned. He had ages he culled from defunct cinemas career-spanning Article Page 1 of 7 since learned that the complete photo- and picture agencies that were then exhibition at the171821600 - JEWTAJof red - A19109-1 sky. He - 44000524 tried painting over it in Whitechapel Gal- his best approximation of an “expres- graph was also a hugely popular post- going out of business. (Stezaker once lery, tells a revelatory tale about the sionist-psychedelic” style, but when card, but it was still the skewed portion bought the entire contents of one such T he turned off the projector the result in the corner that obsessed him. And origins of his luminous art. Stezaker establishment, although the prints are was born in Worcester in 1949; when was “horrifi c”. he began to realise, with a mixture of now so precious and rare that he can- he was 13 his family moved to London, In light of the artist’s subsequent conceptual insight and lingering emo- not bring himself to make work out of and around this time his parents sup- romance with the found photograph, tional attachment, that it required little them.) The fi lm stills are especially pe- planted their crackling old snapshot this anecdote is almost too apt to be or no artistic intervention beyond his culiar artefacts: posed publicity shots albums with a new slide projector. true. By the time he enrolled at the fi rst excision of the haunting fragment. taken during production rather than Slade in the late 60s, his main infl u- (The resulting work, The End, is in the The teenager was fascinated by the frames reproduced from the fi nished ences were Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Whitechapel show.) The image itself apparatus, and especially by the sin- fi lm. Like the colourful, scenic post- Polke: painters whose use of photo- was the work of art and, although the gle demonstration slide that came cards with which Stezaker often over- graphs overlapped with and trumped, various painstaking subtleties of his with it: a wide-angle photograph of lays them, they hold the same kind of in expressive terms, the pop art of a style remained to be worked out, the two men overlooking the Thames, attraction that Victorian engravings few years earlier. But Stezaker was a mature Stezaker aesthetic was coming with the Palace of Westminster and held for the surrealists. The distance – student too at a time when a wholesale into focus. a lurid sunset behind them. Stezaker infl ected with nostalgia and absurdism critique of the pop-cultural image was He was not, of course, the fi rst art- swiftly grasped that the projected – is essential, because one of the things being launched by such thinkers as ist to deploy the found photograph, or combine such photographs, without Stezaker is engaged in is a daring res- comment. It was a favoured trick of cue of images from the memory dump his surrealist precursors, from Ernst to of the recent past. the pages of Georges Bataille’s late- 20s It’s hard to say precisely what the Reproduced by Durrants under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or otherjournal copyright Documents owner. No further. But it’s important artist does with such images. In a copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright sense, practically speaking, it’s ludi- owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 1 of 7 171821600 - JEWTAJ - A19109-1 - 44000524

Reproduced by Durrants under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. Article Page 2 of 7 171821600 - JEWTAJ - A19109-1 - 44000524 Source: Guardian, The {Review} Edition: Country: UK Date: Saturday 29, January 2011 Page: 16,17 Area: 2166 sq. cm Source: Guardian, The {Review} Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily Edition: Country: UK BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 Phone: 020 3353 2000 Date: Saturday 29, January 2011 Page: 16,17 Keyword: Whitechapel Gallery Area: 2166 sq. cm Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 Phone: 020 3353 2000 Source: Guardian, The {Review} Keyword:Edition: Whitechapel Gallery Country: UK Date: Saturday 29, January 2011 Page: 16,17 Area: 2166 sq. cm and comical for once again being per- Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily What is less endearing, and more fectly aligned: clumps of rock become BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 alarming, about these “married” faces noses, the arches of a stone bridge a Phone: 020 3353 2000 is the extent to which their own eyes pair of gawping eyes. Keyword: Whitechapel Gallery have frequently been attacked by The Masks return us to another, crously simple: he places one picture Stezaker’s scalpel. (There’s a reminder less nostalgic, story that Stezaker on top of another. Consider Negotiable may also explode through the centre of here of the founding image of sur- tells us about his development as an Space I, from 1978. The larger, “back- the interposed image, in a cartoon fl ash realist oculism: the slitting open of a artist. As a student, he happened on ground” image shows a psychoanalyst worthy of Roy Lichtenstein. woman’s eye – replaced at the last ed- a photograph in an old medical text- at his desk, his analysand stretched on The mystery of Stezaker’s art may ited moment by that of a cow – in Luis book that showed a woman’s face half a couch, a medicine cabinet in the cor- be said to reside in these precise and Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s 1929 fi lm eaten away by a rodent ulcer – inside ner and a photograph of Freud on the shocking cuts. He has spoken of the Un chien andalou.) and outside had become horribly con- wall. In the centre of the image, and fused. Stezaker closed that book with seemingcrously to simple: threaten he the places foreground one picture of moment when he takes a blade to the ore gener- the thought that he must never look at theon scene, top of is another.a colour postcardConsider show-Negotiable sleekmay surface also explode of an old through bromide the print centre as of ally in his it again, but in other ways he has not ingSpace a train I, emergingfrom 1978. from The a larger, tunnel “back- – its onethe of heightened interposed image,anxiety in and a cartoon tension fl ash work, it’s stopped looking since. edgeground” obscur image ing the shows face of a thepsychoanalyst patient. – havingworthy handled of Roy and Lichtenstein. gazed at these often through John Stezaker is at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, Theat inference his desk, seemshis analysand clear at stretchedfi rst: this on imagesThe for mystery months orof Stezaker’seven years, art he may the eye that until 18 March 2011. whitechapelgallery.org/ is aa comically couch, a medicine “Freudian” cabinet emanation in the cor- likesbe to said get tothe reside incision in these over preciseand done and the inci- fromner the and unconscious a photograph of ofthe Freud fi gure on the withshocking as swiftly cuts. as possible. He has spoken Unfi nished of the sion passes: on wall.the couch In the – centreexcept of that the this image, initial and works in his London studio have the whether schematicseeming response to threaten won’t the exhaust foreground of lookmoment of gaping when wounds, he takes something a blade to like the vertically (as in the splicing of two sleek surface of an old bromide print as M thethe collage. scene, The is a crude colour intrusion postcard of show- the suddenly opened slit, product of faces) or horizontally, as in a series theing postcard a train makesemerging us notice from a oddities tunnel – its a slipone of of the heightened thumb in anxietythe kitchen, and tensionde- titled Love, where a narrow strip of the aboutedge the obscur fi lm still ing the– a latticeface of of the shad- patient. scribed– having by Sylvia handled Plath’s and poemgazed “Cut”:at these same image is inserted along the eye owsThe around inference the Freud seems portrait, clear at thefi rst: sur- this “a sortimages of hinge for months / Of skin, or even / A fl apyears, like he line, so that the subject stares out at us prisingis a comically expanse of “Freudian” empty fl oor emanation at the a hat,likes / Dead to get white.” the incision They overremind and us done with expanded, blurred and alien orbs. bottomfrom ofthe the unconscious picture – as of well the as fi gurecuri- thatwith historically as swiftly photographs as possible. have Unfi nished The result is that the people in Stezak- ouson details the couch by which – except the twothat imagesthis initial beenworks as much in his things London to bestudio touched have as the er’s collages seem to suff er a variety of rhyme:schematic railway response tracks aligning won’t exhaust with lookedlook at,of gapingthat our wounds, fascination something with like austerely rendered optical a ffl ictions, thethe desk collage. so that The it, too,crude looks intrusion about ofto themthe is suddenly at once visual opened and slit, tactile, product al- of from a squint or strabismus to full chargethe postcard out of the makes frame. us notice oddities mosta slip grisly. of the thumb in the kitchen, de- enucleation: in the series Blind, the Thereabout arethe manyfi lm still other – a workslattice of thisshad- Thisscribed impression by Sylvia of Plath’s keen-eyed poem as- “Cut”: eyeballs have been razored out along a type.ows In around the Trial the series Freud classical portrait, ruins, the sur- sault“a issort strongest of hinge (and / Of frequentlyskin, / A fl ap fun- like straight line and the edges of the pho- a picturesqueprising expanse waterfall of empty and the fl oor Bridge at the niest)a hat, in Stezaker’s/ Dead white.” cutting They and remind sutur- us tograph brought together again. of Sighsbottom at ofSt theJohn’s picture College, – as Cam-well as curi- ingthat of close-up historically portraits. photographs Everywhere have Such images are part of Stezaker’s bridge,ous details all erupt by among which the twoanxious images been as much things to be touched as in his work there are faces made mon- monochromerhyme: railway attitudes tracks of aligning a cinematic with looked at, that our fascinationSource: withGuardian, The {Review} strous, comical or weirdlyEdition: attractive by continued investigation of the inti- courtroomthe desk scene. so that In it, an too, untitled looks aboutcol- to them is at once visual and tactile, al- their carving up and carefulCountry: weddingUK mate strangeness of the photographed lagecharge from 2008,out of athe crowd frame. of Hollywood most grisly. with others. In fact oneDate: series is calledSaturday human29, January face, 2011 the way it exposes and bathingThere beauties are many is framed other and works almost of this This impression of keen-eyed as- Marriages, and shows pairsPage: of men 16,17and veils at the same time the feeling, overwhelmedtype. In the byTrial a sideways-on series classical photo- ruins, sault is strongest (and frequently fun- women – mostly, it seems,Area:Source: they are2166 ac-Guardian, sq. cmthinking The creature{Review} within. This fascina- a picturesque waterfall and the Bridge niest) in Stezaker’s cutting and sutur- tors’ studio portraits – Circulation:incongruouslyEdition: ABC 264819tion Daily fi nds its fullest expression in his of Sighs at St John’s College, Cam- ing of close-up portraits. Everywhere graph showing the complicated sculp- conjoined to suggest newBRADCountry: faces. info: A pageUK rateMasks £11,400.00, series. scc Here rate there £42.00 are no cuts, bridge, all erupt among the anxious Phone: 020 3353 2000 tural entanglement of St George with mustachioedin his work man there in are a pullover facesDate: made meets mon-Saturday just 29, the January judicious 2011 placing of colour monochrome attitudes of a cinematic his dragon. But the signature Stezaker afi wavy-hairedstrous, comical blonde or weirdly toKeyword: producePage: attractive a Whitechapel16,17 by postcards Gallery over monochrome portraits. courtroom scene. In an untitled col- gesture is more frequently the cut and guretheir with carving an oddly up and raffi careful shArea: cavalier wedding 2166 sq.They’re cm among Stezaker’s slyest and lage from 2008, a crowd of Hollywood Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily splice of two or more images, doing look;with a middle-aged others. In fact woman one series with is a called most unsettling works, because what bathing beauties is framed and almost BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 suggestive violence to both. Here is a complexMarriages hairdo, and acquires shows pairsthe aquiline of men and they intrude into the portraits is a overwhelmed by a sideways-on photo- Phone: 020 3353series 2000 of gaping holes: chasms and Source: Guardian,young The Lauren {Review} Bacall, her face diago- nosewomen of the – actor mostly, she it obscures. seems, they For areall ac- Edition: nally bisected by roiling fl oodwaters theirtors’ strangeness, studio portraits however, – Keyword:incongruously the faces Whitechapel waterfalls Gallery that cleave faces in two, Country: UK or –graph the series showing is entitled the complicated Film Portrait sculp- areconjoined also exquisitely to suggest aligned, new the faces. arc A of yawning caves and sunlit sea arches Date: Saturday(Disaster) 29,tural January entanglement – obliterated 2011 ofby St an George image withof an mustachioedeyebrow or the man thrust in a ofpullover a jaw run- meets that tunnel into unknowable interiors. Page: 16,17 torn-uphis dragon. trees. Here,But the in signaturea series titled Stezaker ningafi wavy-haired on from one blondeimage to to another, produce so a These collages are the more ghastly Area: 2166 sq.Third cmgesture Person is ,more are lesser frequently stars whose the cut and that gurethe whole with an is bizarrelyoddly raffi credible sh cavalier as and comical for once again being per- Circulation: ABC 264819 Daily facessplice are ofhalf-hidden two or more by images,anonymous doing aWhat glamorouslook; is lessa middle-aged endearing,or grotesque woman and new more being.with a fectly aligned: clumps of rock become BRAD info: page rate £11,400.00, scc rate £42.00 silhouettes,suggestive from violence the depths to both. of Herewhich is a alarming,complex about hairdo these acquires “married” the faces aquiline noses, the arches of a stone bridge a Phone: 020 3353 2000 One’s eye moves tirelessly, entranced, a thirdyoung image Lauren obtrudes: Bacall, a her garish face land- diago- is thebetweennose extent of the tothe twowhich actor faces theirshe and obscures. own their eyes Frank- For all pair of gawping eyes. Keyword: Whitechapelscapenally orGallery bisectedan eerie flby ight roiling of birds. fl oodwaters And in haveenstein theirfrequently ostrangeness,ff spring. been attacked however, by the faces The Masks return us to another, recentor – theworks series the isbackground entitled Film picture Portrait Stezaker’sare also scalpel. exquisitely (There’s aligned, a reminder the arc of lessand nostalgic, comical story for once that againStezaker being per- (Disaster) – obliterated by an image of here ofanWhat the eyebrow foundingis less orendearing, theReproduced image thrust of and sur-ofby aDurrantsmore jaw run- under licencetellsfectly us from about aligned: the NLA his (newspapers),development clumps of rock CLA as (magazines),become an FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further torn-up trees. Here, in a series titled realistalarming, oculism: about the theseslittingcopying “married” (includingopen of printinga faces of digital artist. noses,cuttings), As a the student,digital arches reproduction/forwarding he of happeneda stone bridge on of thea cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright ning on from oneowner. image All FT to content another, is copyright so The Financial Times Ltd. Third Person, are lesser stars whose woman’sis thethat extent eyethe –whole replaced to which is bizarrely at their the lastown credible ed- eyes as a photographpair of gawping in an eyes.old medical text- Article Page 4 of 7 faces are half-hidden by anonymous itedhave momenta glamorous frequently by that or171821600 been grotesqueof a attackedcow - JEWTAJ – newin Luisby- A19109-1 being. - 44000524book thatThe Masksshowed return a woman’s us to another, face half silhouettes, from the depths of which Buñuel Stezaker’sOne’s and eye Salvador scalpel. moves Dalí’s(There’s tirelessly, 1929 a reminderfientranced, lm eatenless away nostalgic, by a rodent story thatulcer Stezaker – inside Reproduced by Durrants under licencea fromthird the image NLA (newspapers), obtrudes: aCLA garish (magazines), land- FTUn (Financial herechienbetween of Times/ft.com)andalou the foundingthe.) two or otherfaces image copyright and of their sur- owner. Frank- No furtherandtells outside us about had becomehis development horribly con- as an copying (including printing of digital cuttings),scape ordigital an reproduction/forwardingeerie fl ight of birds. of And the cuttingin is permittedrealist oculism: except under the lice slittingnce from open the copyright of a fused. artist. Stezaker As a student, closed thathe happened book with on owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. enstein off spring. crously simple: he places one picture recent works the background picture woman’s eye – replacedore at gener- the last Articleed- Page 3the of a7 thought photograph that inhe an must old nevermedical look text- at on top of another.171821600 Consider - JEWTAJ Negotiable - A19109-1 - 44000524 may also explode through the centre of ited moment by that ofally a cow in his – in Luis it again,book thatbut in showed other ways a woman’s he has face not half Space I, from 1978. The larger, “back- the interposed image, in a cartoon fl ash Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’swork, 1929 it’s fi lm stoppedeaten lookingaway by since. a rodent ulcer – inside ground” image shows a psychoanalyst worthy of Roy Lichtenstein. Un chien andalou.) often through Johnand Stezaker outside is at the had Whitechapel become Gallery, horribly London, con- at his desk, his analysand stretched on The mystery of Stezaker’s art may the eye that untilfused. 18 March Stezaker 2011. whitechapelgallery.org/ closed that book with a couch, a medicine cabinet in the cor- be said to reside in these precise and theore inci- gener- the thought that he must never look at ner and a photographReproduced of Freud by on Durrants the under licenceshocking from the cuts. NLA He(newspapers), has spoken CLA of (magazines), the FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or sionotherally passes:copyright in his owner. No furtherit again, but in other ways he has not wall. In the centre ofcopying the image, (including and printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licewhetherncework, from it’sthe copyright stopped looking since. owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. seeming to threaten the foreground of moment when he takes a blade to the vertically (as in the splicing ofoften two through Article Page 3John of 7 Stezaker is at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, 171821600 - JEWTAJ - A19109-1 - 44000524sleek surface of an old bromide print as M the eye that the scene, is a colour postcard show- faces) or horizontally, as in a series until 18 March 2011. whitechapelgallery.org/ ing a train emerging from a tunnel – its one of heightened anxiety and tension titled Love, where a narrow stripthe inci- of the edge obscur ing the face of the patient. – having handled and gazed at these same image is inserted alongsion the passes:eye The inference seems clear at fi rst: this images for months or even years, he line, so that the subject stareswhether out at us is a comically “Freudian” emanation likes to get the incision over and done withM vertically expanded, (as inblurred the splicing and alien of two orbs. from the unconscious of the fi gure with as swiftly as possible. Unfi nished Thefaces) result or is horizontally, that the people as in in a Stezak- series on the couch – except that this initial works in his London studio have the er’stitled collages Love seem, where to su a narrowff er a variety strip of of the schematic response won’t exhaust look of gaping wounds, something like austerelysame image rendered is inserted optical along a ffl ictions, the eye the collage. The crude intrusion of the suddenly opened slit, product of fromline, a squint so that or the strabismus subject stares to full out at us the postcard makes us notice oddities a slip of the thumb in the kitchen, de- enucleation:with expanded, in the blurredseries Blind and ,alien the orbs. about the fi lm still – a lattice of shad- scribed by Sylvia Plath’s poem “Cut”: eyeballsThe result have isbeen that razored the people out alongin Stezak- a ows around the Freud portrait, the sur- “a sort of hinge / Of skin, / A fl ap like straighter’s collages line and seem the edges to suff of er the a variety pho- of prising expanse of empty fl oor at the a hat, / Dead white.” They remind us tographausterely brought rendered together optical again. a ffl ictions, bottom of the picture – as well as curi- that historically photographs have Suchfrom imagesa squint are or partstrabismus of Stezaker’s to full ous details by which the two images been as much things to be touched as enucleation: in the series Blind, the rhyme: railway tracks aligning with looked at, that our fascination with continuedeyeballs investigation have been razored of the inti- out along a the desk so that it, too, looks about to them is at once visual and tactile, al- matestraight strangeness line and of thethe photographededges of the pho- charge out of the frame. most grisly. humantograph face, broughtthe way togetherit exposes again. and There are many other works of this This impression of keen-eyed as- veils atSuch the same images time are the part feeling, of Stezaker’s type. In the Trial series classical ruins, sault is strongest (and frequently fun- thinking creature within. This fascina- a picturesque waterfall and the Bridge niest) in Stezaker’s cutting and sutur- tioncontinued fi nds its fullest investigation expression of the in inti-his of Sighs at St John’s College, Cam- ing of close-up portraits. Everywhere Masksmate series. strangeness Here there of the are photographed no cuts, bridge, all erupt among the anxious in his work there are faces made mon- justhuman the judicious face, the placing way it of exposes colour and monochrome attitudes of a cinematic strous, comical or weirdly attractive by postcardsveils at overthe same monochrome time the feeling,portraits. courtroom scene. In an untitled col- their carving up and careful wedding They’rethinking among creature Stezaker’s within. slyest This and fascina- lage from 2008, a crowd of Hollywood with others. In fact one series is called mosttion unsettling fi nds its fullestworks, expression because what in his bathing beauties is framed and almost Marriages, and shows pairs of men and theyMasks intrude series. into Here the portraitsthere are is no a cuts, overwhelmed by a sideways-on photo- women – mostly, it seems, they are ac- seriesjust of the gaping judicious holes: placing chasms of and colour tors’ studio portraits – incongruously waterfallspostcards that over cleave monochrome faces in two, portraits. graph showing the complicated sculp- conjoined to suggest new faces. A yawningThey’re caves among and Stezaker’s sunlit sea slyestarches and tural entanglement of St George with mustachioed man in a pullover meets thatmost tunnel unsettling into unknowable works, because interiors. what his dragon. But the signature Stezaker afi wavy-haired blonde to produce a Thesethey collages intrude are into the the more portraits ghastly is a gesture is more frequently the cut and gure with an oddly raffi sh cavalier series of gaping holes: chasms and splice of two or more images, doing look; a middle-aged woman with a waterfalls that cleave faces in two, yawning caves and sunlit sea arches suggestive violence to both. Here is a complex hairdo acquires the aquiline young Lauren Bacall, her face diago- nose of the actor she obscures. For all that tunnel into unknowable interiors. nally bisected by roiling fl oodwaters their strangeness, however, the faces These collages are the more ghastly or – the series is entitled Film Portrait are also exquisitely aligned, the arc of (Disaster) – obliterated by an image of an eyebrow or Reproducedthe thrust byof Durrantsa jaw run- under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further torn-up trees. Here, in a series titled copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright ning on from oneowner. image All FT to content another, is copyright so The Financial Times Ltd. Third Person, are lesser stars whose that the whole is bizarrely credible as Article Page 4 of 7 faces are half-hidden by anonymous a glamorous 171821600or grotesque - JEWTAJ new - A19109-1 being. - 44000524 silhouettes, from the depths of which One’s eye moves tirelessly, entranced, a third image obtrudes: a garish land- between the two facesReproduced and their by Durrants Frank- under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No further scape or an eerie fl ight of birds. And in copying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright enstein off spring.owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd. recent works the background picture Article Page 4 of 7 171821600 - JEWTAJ - A19109-1 - 44000524

Main photograph: Mask XXXV, 2007 ; Marriage (Film Portrait Collage) LXI, 2010, above; and left, Untitled, 1977