John Stezaker influences

Off to see the  John Stezaker at Whitechapel Gallery show tomorrow, Ahead of this thought I would put together a quick collage in the style of his 'Marriage' series. I really like Stezaker's work, his image juxtapositions and alignments and the visual humour. However I find some of the hype being written and talked about his work leading up to this show is a bit over the top:

…”In his Marriage series, Stezaker focuses on the concept of portraiture, both as art historical genre and public identity…In his correlated images, personalities (and our idealisations of them) become ancillary and empty, rendered abject through their magnified flaws and struggle for visual dominance….Placed in contemporary context, his portraits retain their aura of glamour, whilst simultaneously operating as exotic ‘artefacts’ of an obsolete culture”… selection from Saatchi Gallery pre show write up.

Was he thinking this or even considering this when he made these collages? I don't think so.  I think he was just concentrating on the image juxtapositions, balances and the 'new' quality of the altered outcome. Once I have seen the exhibition I may write to him and ask him what he thinks! He can only tell me to piss off!

Beauty and the Beast