mail art

Sending by post began in Egypt c. 2000 years BCE

 

1635 Royal Mail started

 

In 1840 the first 'Penny Black' stamp was printed

 

1872 - 1890 Vincent Van Gogh regularly corresponds with his brother Theo, sending sketches, drawings and paintings

 

Marcel Duchamp 'Rendezvous of 6 February, 1916' a series of postcards with stamps and collages

 

1950s - Ray Johnson 'the alternative Postmaster General of Art' created the New York Correspondance School (NYCS), a mail art network using the US Postal system

 

1960s - On Kawara a Japanese Fluxus artist sent telegrams from the USA to friends and family

 

1972-73 - David Mayor organised FLUXshoe, a travelling UK event/exhibition with 100+ artists

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1974 - Pauline Smith tested the limits of freedom of speech with her spoof 'Aldolf Hitler Memorial collecting tin'

 

In 1984 'Mail Art Then and Now' was organised by curator Ronny Cohen at Franklin Furnace in New York

 

From the 1990s Jeremy Deller, Martin Creed, Peter Doig, Chris Ofili, and Fiona Banner all contributed to the movement

 

Between 1994 and 2007 Ruud Janssen conducted 16 mail-interviews related to Fluxus and preserving the essence of correspondence art

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