Collage mounted on panel, 30 x 30 x 2 in
Paul Loughney
Paul Loughney’s collages operate at the threshold of perception, where fragmented imagery becomes something both hallucinatory and meticulously composed. His practice, rooted in analog techniques and guided by intuition, embraces chance encounters with found materials, transforming them into layered visual experiences that reward slow-looking. The interplay of deep blacks, textured paper, and fragmented portraiture reflects a fascination with ambiguity, an exploration of the tension between what is seen, what is hidden, and what emerges through patient observation. These works do not merely fracture representation; they stage an inquiry into its limits, pressing against the threshold where legibility collapses, and meaning remains in suspension
In the Words of the Artist
Collage, 11.25 x 9.25 in
For the past seventeen years, I've worked primarily with analog collage. The work is always made by hand, and all the source materials have been found or given to me, as I believe the universe to be a place of abundance. I approach collage as an intuitive process, attempting to create images like visual hallucinations, a kind of delirium, all the while pursuing that intimate space between viewer and image and creating an experience that rewards slow looking. I employ drawing (tracing), appropriation, and frottage which involves sanding - a gesture of revealing what’s beneath.
Collage, 19.5 x 25.5 in
The process of making an analog collage is an encounter with chance, as I never know what materials will come my way. It allows me the greatest amount of play with ambiguity, always plucking at the threads of the familiar with the unrecognizable, which flirts with the mysterious. To me, it feels like a natural evolution as an artist coming from Printmaking: considering layers, perfect registration, thinking in reverse.
I have often thought of my different series as albums and individual images as the songs. They all have a story to tell. There are always a series of ideas that prop up the work, and it has been that way from the beginning. The themes have developed as I've changed as a person or through my filter as I'm interpreting the world. Sometimes, the source materials can dictate a shift, and I go with that flow. With my work and my writing, I aim to communicate with an audience in a way that sparks a conversation.
Collage, 12 x 9 in
Collage, 11 x 8 in
When I have an hour of time, I do an hour's worth of work. When I have more time, I work in that time frame. In my collage practice, I have roughly eight to ten things to do to move things forward. For example, I can cull magazines and place them into folders. I can do that while I talk to my mom on the phone. However, when I'm composing, I need silence and blocks of time that are distraction-free.
Collage, 13 x 9 in
Collage, 12 x 11 in
About the Artist
Paul Loughney received his MFA degree in 2006 from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn.
He has participated in several solo and group exhibitions at Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, NY; Vorderzimmer, Brooklyn, NY; Jane’s Room, New York, NY; Satchel Projects, New York; Frosch & Portmann, New York, NY; La Fratirnidad, Mexico City, MX; Panteon, Mexico City, MX; Peter Freeman, Inc, New York, NY; Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA; Kunsthochschule fur Medien, Cologne, Germany; Subspace Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
His work is in the permanent collection of Nobel Collection in Zurich; Purdue University, Indiana, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, New York Public Library, New York and the Brodsky Center at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
For Your Viewing Pleasure
What to watch, read, and experience, as curated by the Collé team.
JOE BOYD uses unconventional equipment and processes such as scanners, microscopes and projectors, to recycle household items and other non-traditional materials into abstract pieces of art.
STÉPHANIE HERREMANS (b. 1982, Brussels) repurposes old, forgotten books, transforming their discarded pages into intricate collages. She meticulously selects, cuts, and assembles images, allowing them to take on new meaning through intuitive composition. Her work breathes new life into ephemeral materials, creating singular, evocative narratives from the past.
VALENTINA COZZI, born in Venice, pursued studies in mosaic and pictorial decoration at the local art institute. During the lockdown period, she engaged in meditative collage, participating in collective exhibitions, both online and in-person, and contributing to specialized magazines.
LA SOCIÉTÉ ANONYME is a anonymous account that posts avant-garde collages.
BÉA HENRI is an experimental photographer based in Toulouse, France. The perspective captured through her lens takes the viewer into a journey that triggers a variety of emotions.
Out and About
What to watch, read, and experience, as curated by the Collé team.
▼ READ
Transformation: A Survey of Collage and the Development of Personal Language
This publication is a collaboration between Paul Loughney and Eric Palmeree of Aqualamb Records. The book highlights thirteen contemporary artists who make collage and shows the development of their work over many years. Artists included in the book are from Australia, Germany, Mexico and the USA.
▼ READ
Black on the Face of the Moon by Troy Montes Michie
For his third solo exhibition at Company gallery, Michie reimagines the family album, drawing from the tradition of scrapbooking to interrogate the ways memory and history are constructed, fragmented, and preserved.
▼ LISTEN
Blue Desert by Jack J
Jack J lures you in with warmth, only to pull the rug out. Blue Desert drifts between deep, dubby grooves and stark, unguarded moments—where his reedy vocals cut through the haze like a distant AM signal.
