Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
DIVA

Billie Holiday

Print
1991 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This mixed media assemblage by American artist Reginald Case is built up around an archive photograph of legendary jazz vocalist Billie Holiday (1915-1959) with the jazz tenor saxophonists Ben Webster (on the left in red) and Johnny Russell (on the right in blue) taken in the 1930s by an unknown photographer. It was made in 1991 using found materials from a variety of sources: metal and plastic parts from junk shops on Canal Street in New York selling surplus odds and ends from manufacturers; beads, sequins and trim from the artist's wife Bonnie (an artist and fashion designer); and even glitter and toys from the artist's children.

Trained as a painter, Case turned to collage in the 1970s. In his first experiments he would project a collage composition onto canvas and paint from that but the possibilities of the collage medium in its own right eventually led him to abandon the painting stage of the process altogether, because as he has said, 'The collages opened up whole areas I hadn't thought of in terms of painting, or didn't think were possible such as appropriating materials other than the photographic image in my work - materials like Mylar, metallic paper, trims, buttons, beads, fringe, glass - literally anything and everything.'

Case's work has always reflected his fascination with popular culture, from his earlier collages inspired by American folk art to the later mixed media assemblages of American 'icons' like Marilyn Monroe, Barbie and Madonna which he says, 'give expression to the fascination of my youth with movies, vaudeville, theatre, radio and popular magazines. I could never find a way to imagine those subjects as part of my artwork until I began to make collages.'


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBillie Holiday (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Mixed media assemblage
Brief description
Billie Holiday. Mixed media assemblage by Reginald Case. 1991
Physical description
B&W photographic image of Billie Holiday with Ben Webster and Johnny Russell, superimposed on holographic foil background and decorated with glitter, star sequins and artificial gems, in a deeply layered plastic frame richly encrusted with metal, plastic, braid, artificial gems, glitter, sequins, etc, landscape format.
Dimensions
  • Approx height: 28.5cm
  • Approx width: 41.5cm
  • Approx depth: 10cm
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • CASE (In plastic letters within the decoration of the frame, front bottom right.)
  • Reginald Case (Signed in silver paint or ink on the back.)
  • Reginal Case / 5 Diane Court / Peekskill, New York 10566 (On the back, printed in black on white label.)
  • # 303 "BILLIE HOLIDAY" / 1991 assemblage / mixed media / 11" x 16" x 4" / Ben Webster (Red), Johnny Russell (Blue) (On the back, handwritten in black and blue ink on white label.)
Credit line
Given by the artist in memory of his son Stephen Thomas Case
Subjects depicted
Summary
This mixed media assemblage by American artist Reginald Case is built up around an archive photograph of legendary jazz vocalist Billie Holiday (1915-1959) with the jazz tenor saxophonists Ben Webster (on the left in red) and Johnny Russell (on the right in blue) taken in the 1930s by an unknown photographer. It was made in 1991 using found materials from a variety of sources: metal and plastic parts from junk shops on Canal Street in New York selling surplus odds and ends from manufacturers; beads, sequins and trim from the artist's wife Bonnie (an artist and fashion designer); and even glitter and toys from the artist's children.

Trained as a painter, Case turned to collage in the 1970s. In his first experiments he would project a collage composition onto canvas and paint from that but the possibilities of the collage medium in its own right eventually led him to abandon the painting stage of the process altogether, because as he has said, 'The collages opened up whole areas I hadn't thought of in terms of painting, or didn't think were possible such as appropriating materials other than the photographic image in my work - materials like Mylar, metallic paper, trims, buttons, beads, fringe, glass - literally anything and everything.'

Case's work has always reflected his fascination with popular culture, from his earlier collages inspired by American folk art to the later mixed media assemblages of American 'icons' like Marilyn Monroe, Barbie and Madonna which he says, 'give expression to the fascination of my youth with movies, vaudeville, theatre, radio and popular magazines. I could never find a way to imagine those subjects as part of my artwork until I began to make collages.'
Collection
Accession number
E.51-2008

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Record createdOctober 8, 2008
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