Peter Blake has produced an amazing range of work throughout his career. Today we are taking a closer look at his stunning ‘Found Art’ series started in the early 2000's using cutting edge technology to create a new form of art.
The series is based upon one of the earliest tenets of pop art: that everyday objects can become the subject matter for fine art, from Warhol’s Soup cans to Jeff Koons Hoovers.
Every work in the Found Art series takes its starting point as a piece of ephemera drawn from Peter Blake’s extensive personal collection. His fascination with arcane and unusual objects is at the centre of his collecting instinct and his studio is famed for being closer to a museum of popular culture objects and printed ephemera than a typical artist’s studio.
From this Peter Blake works with the latest digital technology which enables him to blow an object up to 50 times its normal size. In doing this he wants us to see these objects in a new way and transform them from found objects, that most people would consider to be valueless, into works of art. The sheer scale of the works draws us into the beauty of their design, their fragility and their textural qualities.
Some of the first items Peter Blake transformed into works of art were fag packets and match boxes. Produced using the silkscreen printing method and embellished with foil, these super-scaled cigarette packets have a real impact. The original packets are torn and battered, and essentially rubbish, yet Peter Blake has used these elements to create points on interest and detail in the work.
Other small objects transformed by the ‘Found Art’ treatment include embroidery buttons and badges.
