PHOTOS BY JACKIE ROMAN

With drink in-hand, some of New York's creative elite and longtime art lovers mingled at Michael Imperioli's Studio Dante for opening night (Dec. 9) of "Do the Collage," a selection of more than 50-plus works of collage art from singer/songwriter and Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard. A reference to GBV's 1999 album, Do the Collapse, Pollard's debut art exhibition attracted actors, musicians and art enthusiasts such as GBV bassist Chris Slusarenko, Guster vocalist Ryan Miller, members of Brooklyn's Death of Fashion, and Tony Award-winning actor, Michael Cerveris.

Pollard's surreal collaged images, which are composed of magazine cutouts of people, rooms and buildings culled from various decades, showcased a critical, but colorful outlook on mass culture. "I try to take images that I don't think are that interesting but have interesting elements about them. And then I put them into what I think will be a more interesting environment," the outspoken Pollard told SPIN.com.

First introduced to Pollard's artwork while attending art school, co-host and local visual artist Todd DiCiurcio says it was Guided by Voices' Alien Lanes LP that first turned him on to Pollard's impressionist body of art. "For me, it's all about composition," DiCiurcio said. "The way even his music resembles what you're seeing, it shows just how much of his expression follows through all different mediums." For co-host and actor Michael Imperioli, who's currently filming The Lovely Bones with director Peter Jackson, it's Pollard's complex use of color that he finds most appealing. "The colors are different from what we usually see today and so vivid, it's just really imaginative."

Many of the displayed works also served as album covers or song titles from Pollard's 22-year discography. A visual challenge to every child labor law, "Off to Business" will be the cover art for his next solo release, which he plans to start recording in January. One of the better-known works on exhibition, "The Astral City Slickers," which famously depicts the full deck of cards image from GBV's Mag Earwhig! album, was recently on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "If this is successful," Pollard beamed to SPIN.com, "The next stuff I'm gonna do is going to be downright fucking vulgar." 

We asked: What is your favorite work of collage art by Robert Pollard and why?

Name: Isabella Berneis
Age: 17
Hometown: New York, NY
Occupation: Student
"'We'll Take It (Postcard)' because I'm into photography and I like the photo aspect of it."

Name: James Jewell
Age: 45
Hometown: Sinking Spring, PA
Occupation: Musician/video photographer
"'Mosquito Bar Mitzvah.' I've been to a lot of Bar Mitzvahs this year. I like the interaction of characters (in the artwork)."

Name: John Mhiripiri
Age: 38
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Occupation: Director of film archives
"'Complex Lawns.' I like the architecture a lot and the color and the sky."

Name: Megan DiCiurcio
Age: 37
Hometown: Ocean City, NJ
Occupation: Public relations director
"'Summer and Planets.' In my life, summer has always been the happiest of times. I get an amazing vibe from it and it has the zodiac in it."

Name: Darryl Specht
Age: 25
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Occupation: Bassist for Death of Fashion
"We'll Take It (Postcard).' In a pessimistic way, it seems like what America could become."

Name: Chris Slusarenko
Age: 39
Hometown: Portland, OR
Occupation: Bassist for Guided by Voices
"'You Were Saying?' and 'The Last What Up' because the colors are vibrant and muted at the same time."

Name: Ryan Miller
Age: 35
Hometown: Dallas, TX
Occupation: Lead Singer of Guster
"'Extra's in the Film.' It made me smile when I saw it, and I feel like I can stare at it and laugh for days."

Name: Jacob Bills
Age: 24
Hometown: Detroit, MI
Occupation: Guitarist/vocalist for Death of Fashion
"'Everything's Baby.' I like how minimal it is and the juxtapositions."

Name: Michael Cerveris
Age: Early 40's
Hometown: Huntington, WV
Occupation: Actor/musician
"'Ladies and Instruments.' I like how he uses everyday elements. They're kind of haunting and really moody."

Name: Jason Himes
Age: 38
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Occupation: Art dealer
"'The Descreditors.' It reminds me of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It has a '60s pop art feel."

Fans and friends come out for Do the Collage / Photo by Jackie Roman

Pollard, with co-hosts Todd DiCiurcio and Michael Imperioli / Photo by Jackie Roman

Do the Collage at Studio Dante / Photo by Jackie Roman