Defined as a process of layering images and incorporating autonomous elements into artwork, formal collage emerged in the early years of the 20th century with the Cubist experiments of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. The duo coined the term from the French verb “coller,” meaning “to glue” or “to stick,” to describe works composed using pasted pieces of paper, newsprint, and fabric. Dada artists such as Hannah Hoch, Richard Huelsenbeck, John Heartfield, began incorporating collage techniques into their work—pioneering photomontage and using preexisting photographs to create composite images that sharply critiqued society and culture in the aftermath of World War I.

In the 1950s neo-avant-garde artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns created assemblages that brought collage techniques into three dimensions—laying the groundwork for much contemporary sculpture—as well as works on paper that incorporated found elements drawn from the mass media and everyday life. Likewise, the incorporation of materials and images culled from mass culture and consumer goods was a signature of Pop art, exemplified by collage-based works like British artist Richard Hamilton’s Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956). Contemporary artists continue to use the medium of collage in new and innovative ways, experimenting both formally and conceptually. Artists like Lorna Simpson and Marcel Dzama have used collage techniques as a means of addressing topics like fantasy, race, class, and politics, while the collective assume vivid astro focus merges magery from the Internet and analog sources alike.