How Copy + Paste Got Cool

Collage art is making a major comeback. Forget Neil Buchanan with his PVA (clearly you already have), a new wave of artists are using mid-century magazine pages to make mind-bending works of art.

The practice was first introduced by the Cubists at the turn of the 20th Century, and has developed through waves of artists from cutting and sticking to ⌘c + ⌘v. With the modern luxury of referencing and recreating existing work from the visually rich fields of science, advertising, pop-culture and erotica, collage can transport you into a whimsical world, where it makes perfect sense for a coral-lipped woman to lie among greyscale mountains, or a child to play with building bricks at the height of Machu Picchu... you'll see.

Belgian-born Sammy Slabbinck plays with colour (or lack of), scale and juxtaposition in his work. Having collected decades of materials, from vintage editions of Playboy to factual encyclopaedias, Sammy's pieces conjour a balance of humour and darkness that result in an utterly delightful body of work. Prepare to double-take.

Sammy Slabbinck is on the top floor of the Michael Hoppen Gallery until January 7, you can also see it online.

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