From 15 October until 16 December, the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) is exhibiting a photomontage collection, consisting of over 100 posters, books, magazines, and postcards, created by artists from 13 countries.  The pieces exhibited by the CUAG are on loan from the Merrill C. Berman Collection in the United States.  Mr. Berman’s collection of graphic and modernist art rivals those of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The U.S. Embassy collaborated with CUAG to bring Mr. Berman and art historian Mr. Adrian Sudhalter to Ottawa.  On Saturday, November 3, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. Mr. Berman and Sudhalter will lead a tour and discussion of the exhibit.  The U.S. Embassy grants partnership program supports the promotion of American culture in Canada.

Oscar Wilde wrote in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying that, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.”  Certainly, this truism has been the inspiration for many major artistic propaganda campaigns over the years.  The period between World Wars I and II gave birth to a new artistic process called photomontage, which developed simultaneously in Germany and the Soviet Union during this time.  It became a formidable political tool in the hands of artists seeking to influence public opinion during the period between world wars.  Gradually, it also became a medium used in advertising, publications, and social protest.  The exhibition displays a wide ranging photomontage of works of art, several of which are considered to be milestones in the history of 20^th-century graphic design.

For information on the exhibit please go to:

http://cuag.carleton.ca/index.php/exhibitions/143

To view the Event Flyer, click here:

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/canada/303578/pdfs/cuag-photomontage-evite.pdf

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2012 at 11:50 am and is filed under The Arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.