Fragmentary Forms

“A magnificent collection of illustrations … . [An] expansive new history of collage.”—Samuel Reilly, Apollo Magazine“Excitement is an apt response to … Fragmentary Forms. It is new and deep in its exploration of the “mode”… . Throughout the text [Gowrley] explores its range from religious to folk to avant garde approaches—from anonymous Victorians to Faith Ringgold’s African American quilts—and a bit of DIY.”—Steven Heller, Print Magazine“I cannot say enough how beautiful this book is. It is a breathtakingly beautiful and encyclopedic history of collage from its earliest beginnings.”—Kendall Dinniene, New Books Network“Wonderful… . Fragmentary Forms is not anti- or counter-art history, but art history as it should be today… . A must read.”—Jan Baetens, Leonardo“I’ve always wanted a good text on the history and theory of collage and I think this might be the one I’ve been waiting for.”—Jarrett Fuller, Scratching the Surface newsletter”[Across] this book’s richly illustrated pages, [Gowrley] radically widens collage’s historical and geographical scope, beginning with 12th-century Japanese paper cut-outs and ending with AIDS memorial quilts. She also expands the definition of collage to include all sorts of ‘juxtapositionary practices’… . For Gowrley, collage is not a medium or a genre but rather a ‘mode’, a ‘means of processing the world.”—James Waddell, Literary Review“A thoughtful, scholarly, playful, expansive, highly original and beautifully produced book that requires how we think about collage in all its forms.” * Dan Hicks on Instagram *

Freya Gowrley is a leading scholar of the cultural lives of images and objects. She is based at the University of Bristol, where she writes about the relationship between art and identity from the early modern period to the present day. She is the author of Domestic Space in Britain, 17501840: Materiality, Sociability, and Emotion.