In the ‘Opera’ series of collages, tall columns of Brian Clarke’s signature geometric reticules and amorphic shapes are set against a base of wide brushstrokes on paper.

A major selection of these works was exhibited in Brian Clarke: The Icon Series of Collages at the Robert Fraser Gallery in 1984, and later shown at in exhibitions at the Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, and Phillips de Pury retrospective, Brian Clarke: Works on Paper 1969–2011 in 2011.