Sam Middleton made paper collages that he dubbed “improvised solo[s]” long after he had relocated away from the jazz scene around downtown New York and Harlem, where he grew up, to a permanent home in the Netherlands. Middleton, who was largely self-taught, often saw jazz masters like Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker play live in the 1950s, and was inspired to translate the spontaneity of their music to works on paper. When he wasn’t using music sheets, Middleton collaged elements like newspapers, tickets, magazines, and cards he’d collected, famously attaching them with Elmer’s glue. He exhibited regularly from the 1960s through the 1980s, including a group show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1960, and had a 2003 retrospective at the Cobra Museum.
Source: Artsy