Paper ephemera and Letraset dry transfer on panel
11 x 14 x 0.75 in.
Jacob Whibley is an artist whose collages balance meticulous order with organic spontaneity, deeply engaging with materiality and form. He blends histories and architectures into formal compositions, repurposing remnants of the past to create new visual dialogues. Through shapes, textures, and muted tones, Whibley explores our collective sense of temporality, inviting viewers into a space where history and the present moment converge.
paper ephemera and book cloth on panel
28.5 x 40.5 in.
I’ve been developing a personal language of material abstraction that relies on intuition and found objects. This has resulted in a consistently evolving collage and sculptural practice that investigates how our perception of linear time is breaking down due to the exponential growth of information technologies, late stage capitalism and studies within quantum physics. The resulting works focus on combining and elevating the embedded histories, formal qualities, gestures, and markings, into dynamic compositions that resonate and reflect our interrelationships, combined displacement and temporal ambiguity.
My aim is that the work unsettles its viewers by illustrating the imbalances we jointly feel, but also provide a sense of comfort in the fact that it is always like this – time, culture and reality is always being revised and we have a collective role to play in its creation and recreation.
paper ephemera on panel
22 x 24 in.
When creating work I view my process as a collaboration with time, the environment and chance – three key factors that have shaped and brought the ephemera to me. Every scrap is like a snapshot that projects a record of its interactions before reaching me. I then manipulate those pieces and combine them with others to create kinetic and abstract compositions that Illustrate how objects and individuals emerge through their entangled interactions – matter, meaning, space, time, the living and the nonliving are constantly being reconfigured through every interaction.
paper collage on archival watercolour paper
7.25 x 6 in.
paper ephemera on panel
22 x 24 in.
I usually work on multiple panels at the same time, saving me from burning out on one composition. This process allows me move between multiple pieces and create many new elements and offcuts. What doesn’t end up working on one panel might work on the next. When a series is finished I fold the offcuts back into my archive, ensuring that future collages will contain elements from past works and every past collage has a through-line to the most current and yet to be made works.
Paper ephemera and Letraset dry transfer on panel
11 x 14 x 0.75 in.
My works are abstract and not necessarily objective so I gravitate towards materials that aren’t pictorial, but instead have a deep sense of history about them – lots of stains, rips, folds and other experiential and environmental traces. I have a large bin of offcuts that I’ve been adding to for the last 15+ years. Its contents a combination of everyday scraps, books and ephemera from my late father’s library and papers that reach back to my Estonian maternal great-grandmother. When a series is finished I fold the offcuts back into my archive, ensuring that future collages will contain elements from past works and every past collage has a through-line to the most current and yet to be made works. Reinforcing a network of temporal and experiential relations between them.
7.25 x 6 in.
paper collage on archival watercolour paper
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Jacob Whibley is a Toronto-based artist who works predominantly in collage and sculpture. His practice roots through modernist art, architecture and design concepts to address issues of temporality, labour and technology. Whibley is a graduate of OCAD University and a former member of the Toronto art collective Team Macho. Notable exhibitions include a common thread at Zalucky Contemporary (2023), Record Shop at MKG127 (2018), dot-dot-dot at 8-11, Toronto (2017), unchained melody at Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montreal (2017), imperfect aspect at Open Studio, Toronto (2016), Point and Duration at Bourouina Gallery, Berlin (2014), More than Two (Let it Make Itself) at The Power Plant, Toronto (2013) and Freedom of Assembly at Oakville Galleries, Oakville (2012).
His practice was recently highlighted in a multi-page spread in Contemporary Collage Magazine (2023). Previous coverage includes Esse Magazine, the Toronto Star, the Magenta Foundation, NOW Magazine, Elephant Magazine and Color Magazine. Whibley’s work has been acquired by the Royal Bank of Canada Collection, the Bank of Montreal Collection, TD Collection and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
For Your Viewing Pleasure
STEPHEN J. SHANABROOK is an American conceptual artist, who lives and works in New York City and Moscow, Russia. He graduated from Syracuse University, The Skowhegan School of Art program, USA and de Ateliers, The Netherlands.
SARAH FEINGOLD, a Frankfurt-born creative force, has made her mark across Europe, producing content for top brands like Nike, Adidas, and Google. Now based in Paris, she collaborates with luxury brands such as Gucci, while her work continues to be featured in prestigious publications like Vogue and Elle.
JACK DAVIDSON (UK, 1990), is a London-based portrait and documentary photographer. Since the age of 14, he spent most of his time experimenting with cameras and has continuously photographed those around him.
Under the creative direction of Nastassja Abel and Christian Otto, SERIFA operates at the intersection of art and design. The studio is committed to unveiling new forms of visual expression and leverages AI to push the boundaries of creative exploration.
RUBY MELLISH is an experimental jewellery artist who uses a wide range of materials and techniques to achieve unique outcomes. Her practice is primarily influenced by the body and carries surreal themes through the application of computer aided design and hand-crafting.
Out and About
What to watch, read, and experience, as curated by the Collé team.
▼ VISIT
Irrationally Speaking: Collage & Assemblage in Contemporary Art
This exhibition at Ruby City, includes works by Leonardo Drew, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Arturo Herrera, Thomas Hirschhorn, Hew Locke, and Wangechi Mutu among others. Opening 9/21/24.
▼ VISIT
Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage
The Phillips Collection has assembled an exhibition that displays collages from 49 Black artists. This is the first major museum exhibition dedicated to contemporary collage reflecting the breadth and complexity of Black identity and in the United States. The exhibition is on view until Sept. 22.
▼ LISTEN
G, A & D by Felbm & Louis Reith
Pressed in 300 copies on black vinyl. Each record includes a booklet featuring images from Louis and Felbm's week-long residency in Ghent, capturing their experiences and wanderings in the city.
