Gus Van Sant's Photo Collages Go On Display

We’ve already seen him master moving pictures, but director Gus Van Sant’s inventive hybridization of art styles and forms will be on display at Portland’s PDX Contemporary Art. Titled Cut-Ups, Van Sant’s exhibition shows Polaroid collages taken of young actors he’s worked with on films such as Ken Park and My Own Private Idaho. The technique is inspired by the late William Burroughs, an old friend of Van Sant’s. While Burroughs’ pieces rearranged finished works, Van Sant is splicing digital prints from the 90s, some of which were used as casting references, to create double characters. For Van Sant, the collages also serve as visual records of his filmmaking history.