Bloomingdale museum 'Corpse' exhibit shows collage as fine art

Before art world outsiders raise their eyebrows at the title of the Midwest Collage Society's latest exhibit, "Exquisite Corpse/Layers 3," perhaps a quick art lesson is in order.

Exquisite corpse is an artistic method where a collection of images is made into one art piece, with each artist adding to the sequence. In the society's exhibit opening Saturday at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum, the artists will display their exquisite corpses in a juried show.

Laura Lein-Svencner, co-founder of the collage society, said the technique is based on an old parlor game using a sheet of paper folded in thirds. The first person draws the head, then folds back the paper so the next person draws a torso (unaware of the preceding drawing) and the last player draws the legs.

When the paper is opened, it reveals a complete body.

"This is part of a collage style that shows it's really unbelievable what people can do with paper and layering it," Lein-Svencner said.

Society members have put forth their best work for the show, which will be judged by a College of DuPage art professor.

This is the collage society's largest show of the year, and winners will advance to the Alliance of the Fine Arts show in September at Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook. A reception to meet the artists will be from 2 to 4 p.m. July 19 at the museum.

Lein-Svencner said the pieces on display can take from two weeks to a month to create, and they demonstrate that collages really are fine art.

"'Collage' is a French word and it means to be glued or pasted, so whatever can be glued or pasted is what our group is about," she said. "But it wasn't until Picasso and George Braque brought it to the forefront in 1912 that they showed everyone collage is a fine art. There is a lot to it, a lot of elements, embellishments and principles of design that these artists work very hard to create."