Peter Blake - London - The Butterfly Man (James Dean at the Albert Hall), 2011
Such a wonderful exhibition this. I have been a big fan of all of Peter Blake's works since seeing the Tate retrospective dedicated to him in 1983, (and the other at Tate Liverpool in 2007). This exhibition though is a survey devoted to collage master Blake's developments in the medium. Blake's relentless explorations of the diverse variations of collage are fully charted here. Early painted compositions in a 'collage-like' style, such as Litter, (1955), and paintings with elements collaged on such as my long-time personal favourites - Siriol, She-Devil of Naked Madness, 1957, and Loelia, World's Most Tattooed Lady, 1955, which I haven't been able to see in the physical since 1983, are also included. It was a real thrill to get to see these pieces again after so long. This exhibition features pieces that have never been exhibited before too, from early career works to his self-proclaimed 'Late Period', and also Battle, (1964-2018) Blake's largest canvas to date. There is also acknowledgement of his most famous work with the inclusion of the collaged inset from The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967. The album cover famously blended assemblage, collage, and photography to create a memorable fine art/graphic design installation which nevertheless proved to be seen as something of a personal albatross for Blake. Collage for Blake opens up a world of surreal, ideosyncratic possibilities. This exhibition is titled - Peter Blake: Time Traveller, and you certainly get a sense of jumping back and forth through time as Blake's work evokes a certain nostalgia for bygone times because of the ephemeral nature of the materials he so deftly collages together be they Edwardian postcards, Victorian toys, midcentury advertising or 1960s pop memorabilia. All are seemlessly combined to create an alternate reality. The great thing about Blake's work is that he is so obviously and enthusiastically a fan of his pop culture subject matter - the pop and film stars (and their music and films), the wrestlers, toys, badges and comics etc. This love for his collage subject matter spills over into his personal life and studio environment as he has amassed a huge collection (an estimated 50,000 items) of diverse objects all assembled and displayed like a vast collaged art installation - The Sgt Pepper album cover made real. Blake got the collecting bug early in life, discovering a junkyard from which he would purchase an array of cheap materials which would go to make up his personal collection, or be included in his artworks. Another element which was interesting to discover in this show was the extent to which Blake is also a fan of other artists and their collaged works such as Joseph Cornell, Marcel Duchamp, and Damien Hirst, and it is wonderful to see him both generously acknowledging and paying homage to their art in his own works. Much of this exhibition comprises of Blake's Joseph Cornell's Holiday series, consisting of nearly one hundred collage works which sees Blake enjoying the artistic conceit of sending Cornell (who never actually travelled outside of America), on an alternate reality world tour in which Cornell encounters all manner of celebrities and fauna, in a series of surreal juxtapositions conjured up in Blake's whimsical imagination in exotic locations across the globe. Blake has now embraced technology, and the latest of his collaged oeuvre are created digitally. Peter Blake: Time Traveller, is a fantastic exhibition and deserves to be expanded and toured nationally (in much the same way Blake sends Cornell and Duchamp off on tour in his artworks).
