AN OVERVIEW OF ARTISTAMPS

“Postage stamps by philatelic definition are tiny, codified, functional objects with edition sizes, denominations, adhesives, perforations, cancellations, inks, colors, papers, watermarks, and printed images. These philatelic definitives, revenues, and commemorative stamp issues are authorized by governments, not artists. While some aspects of the philatelic definition apply to stamps issued by artists, it is the realm of imagination that governs the unorthodox, ephemeral aesthetic of artistamps created by mail artists.”- Chuck Welch, The Eternal Network, 2020

16.50d Capparis spinosa single, image courtesy of the Postal Museum’s collection

Forever Heart Health single, image courtesy of the Postal Museum’s collection

Forever Earthscapes: Skyscraper apartments single, image courtesy of the Postal Museum’s collection 

$5 Waves of Color single, 2012. Image courtesy of the Postal Museum’s collection

Whether you’re a philatelist, an art historian, or a novice collector, the art found on postage stamps is a historic source of fascination and appreciation. Stamps are subject to collection and commodification, and their perceived value depends as much on their aesthetics as it does on their cultural context. There are countless examples throughout the postal system’s history (many of which are visible in the Postal Museum’s collection), of artistic stamps that blur the lines between function, design, and art. Adding a new dimension to the history of stamps, in the 1960s an art movement emerged that viewed these tiny canvases as opportunities to break down the categories between art and life itself. The Mail Art movement introduced ‘artistamps’ to efficiently transmit strong imagery through the post by transforming a symbol that is ubiquitous in any culture. 

To explore NPM’s digitized collection of stamps, click here: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/collections/us-stamps 

Though illustrated mail has long since been a staple of postal history, the Mail Art movement crystallized in the 1960s as an anti-establishment collective that sought to distribute art without the input of institutions. By sending art through the mail, artists could resist commodification, conserve resources, and create networks that expanded from interpersonal circles to global communities. Mail Art ideology developed from Fluxus artists, an extension of the Dada, Pop and Surrealist art movements, whose main goal was to integrate art and life. Mail Art works aestheticized certain aspects of the postal system while resisting others. In efforts to personalize and transform traditional postage, artists began to make their own stamp sheets, which came to be called ‘artistamps.’  Each artistamp artist found their own style and pioneered new techniques for embellishing their tiny canvases. New York City-based avant-garde artist May Wilson (1905-1986), one of the original members of the Mail Art movement, made artistamps by taking self portraits in a photobooth, then embellishing them with spray-painted geometric stencils. New Hampshire-based mail artist Chuck Welch makes artistamps with engravings and etchings as well as using photocopy and collage. Buz Blurr’s mail art journey was born out of his isolation living in Arkansas. He started making artistamps out of polaroid photos that had the negative image scratched off, which he then photocopied and turned into a ‘caustic jelly portrait.’ As time went on, artistamp materials progressed from being confined to printing and painting to including copying and digital media.

This 1984 artistamp sheet is a satire meant to commemorate a Mail Art show curated at Franklin Furnace Gallery in NYC by Ronnie Cohen, who rejected certain artists from the show as opposed to accepting all submissions in typical Mail Art fashion. Image courtesy of the Oberlin College Art Libraries. 

BuZ Blurr, Sheet of Aristamps, 1986, image courtesy of the Archives of American Art 

Within all the complex intentions present in creating a sheet of artistamps, artists had few illusions that the stamps would actually work. Artistamps are not federally sanctioned as postage, so in the eyes of a postal worker, they would merely add decoration to a piece of mail. Technically, artistamps fall under the category of “Cinderella” stamps, or faux postage, which has its own section of interest in the field of philately. Even so, artistamp artists often go to great lengths to emulate the minute details of stamps. A common tool present in the more advanced mail artist’s studio is a perforator, a hefty, expensive machine that divides stamps on a sheet. This coveted technique is more aesthetic than logistical, as many mail artists don’t even separate their artistamps, choosing instead to mail them as full sheets. Some artists include discrete, repeated images on each stamp, while some play with form by creating a larger image taking up a whole sheet that is broken up by perforations. This appreciation for the finer details of postage suggests a philatelic curiosity as well as an artistic inquiry, though philately and Mail Art have historically had a complex relationship.

For more information on Cinderella stamps, visit this link: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/alphabetilately-the-exhibition/c-is-for-cinderella 

The subjects of these small-scale works could range anywhere from political satire to delicate scenery to provocative imagery, but portraits were a popular choice, as the most notable tradition of stamp imagery and one with arguably the most impact. By featuring themselves, their friends, or any figure from pop culture to their own imaginations on stamp sheets, artists could induct the subject into an alternative canon, without requiring permission from any institution. 

One of the first documented artistamp sheets belonged to Robert Watts, a member of Fluxus.  An avid collector of media, Watts interrogated pop culture through his artistamp sheets. The first examples of his experimentation with postage are the sheets, Safe Post / K.u.K. Feldpost / Jockpost and Yamflug / 5 Post 5. Both are monochromatic, created by offset and distributed by the sheet. Safe Post / K.u.K. Feldpost / Jockpost features nude images that directly subvert the typical stamp sheet. Yamflug / 5 Post 5 is more ambiguous; featuring an unusually framed curation of portraits of public figures. distributed through Flux-Post Kits (kits sent out to the network that included materials to create and exchange Mail Art as well as artists’ works), as well as through vending machines he set up in galleries around New York City. By selling his stamps for much cheaper than a federal stamp sheet, Watts poked fun at the post office while imagining the potential for homemade postage and its distribution. Allison Trepper makes an interesting observation that, although artistamps are not federally recognized, “sometimes the hands of the postman have the final say.” (Allison Trepper) 

Robert Watts, Yamflug / 5 Post 5. 1963. Offset on gummed and perforated paper. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Gift. © 2012 Estate of Robert Watts. Photo courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art 

French artist Yves Klein, founder of the Nouveau Realiste movement, was one of the first major proponents of artistamps, but he never created a whole sheet, only using stamps to adorn his invitations and match his paintings (history of artistamps John Held Jr.) His “Blue Stamp,” an official stamp painted over in his signature blue, actually made it through the post, circumventing traditional postal methods.

Yves Klein Blue Stamp, 1957. Photo courtesy of Artnet

Only some artistamp artists truly attempted to mimic original postage stamps, as many artists expanded on and subverted their format. American artist Donald Evans (1944-1977) created whole imaginary landscapes on his one-off artistamps. These stamps have their own lore, evoking traditional imagery while remaining delightfully out of reach. For Evans, the limited canvas and familiar framework of the stamp only expanded its possibilities.

Artistamps commemorating objects from ‘Nadorp Post’ by Donald Evans, date unknown. Image courtesy of Artpool. 

Canada-based mail artist James W. Felter curated one of the first artistamp exhibitions, Artists' Stamps and Stamp Images at Simon Fraser University; Burnaby, Canada, in 1974. Drawing from 3000 stamp submissions representing 35 artists and 7 art collectives from 9 countries, the exhibition featured works from artists like May Wilson, Robert Fried, and Donald Evans (106). The show traveled around the world for almost ten years and introduced countless artists to the medium. However, out of the 45 participants, only three were women. 

Patricia Tavenner (1943-2013) was a California-based mail artist who identified herself as “The Mail Queen.” In her writings Tavenner commented specifically that she was not influenced by Fluxus, as they were too exclusive and she was never invited in. All the same, she came to love artistamps for the impact the repeated images had as a whole sheet (Mail Art Interview) (Artistamps).According to Tavenner, ‘Each sheet has its own aura and reality.” Furthermore, she appreciated the accessibility of the stamp as a medium because of its familiar imagery and simple concept. Tavenner usually created artistamps using a copier and rubberstamps. As well as being an artist, she enabled publications and exhibitions that showcased the diversity and creativity of artistamps. Tavenner created a newsletter called "Mail Order Art" published in 1971 - 1972. She created the “First California Artists Stamp Show” in 1995 and compiled an exhibition of women stamp artists for the Stamp Art Gallery in San Francisco. 

‘The Mail Queen at the Olympics,’ Patricia Tavenner, 1994. Image courtesy of Oberlin Art Libraries

The 1st International Women's Artistamp Exhibition, Darlene Domel, 1997. Image Courtesy of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Digital Collections. 

Anna Banana, a Canadian mail artist who participated in the Bay Area Dada scene in the 1970s, is a notable figure in Mail Art history who centered her artistic practice (which included performance art, Mail Art, and conceptual art) around the motif of the banana. She started producing artistamps, titled International Art Post, to promote her banana-themed work. She became so well-versed in the practice she eventually published the “Artistamp Collector’s Album” in 1990, and reinvented her periodical “Banana Rag” as “Artistamp News.” (1991-1996) Banana owned a professional-grade perforator, and actually generated income for herself by creating custom-made stamp sheets.

Also working out of the Bay Area as a member of the Dada community, Ginny Lloyd started making artistamps in the 1970s, and ended up curating an international stamp exhibition in the 1980s, where she started to hone in on women artistamp artists. Creating under her alias Gina Lotta, she also has amassed a collection of artistamps that she moved online into Gina Lotta Post’s Artistamp Museum. Lloyd is also the author of Women in the Artistamp Spotlight, a comprehensive overview of contemporary women artistamp artists from around the world.  By creating their own postage, and often featuring their own images, women could rewrite both bureaucratic and artistic histories that undermined their contributions.

Anna Banana, 1988. Image courtesy of Gina Lotta Post’s Artistamp Museum 

Because of their novelty and collectability, artistamps became one of the more commercialized aspects of the Mail Art movement, often making it into museums and galleries where edgier approaches did not. In a 1995 interview with fellow mail artist Ruud Janssen, Patricia Tavenner stated that artistamps are “the dominant contribution of Mail Art to the mainstream of fine arts in terms of a media.” The increasing presence of artistamps in the fine arts world has blurred the lines between philately, art history, and the more anti-establishment tendencies of mail artists. Displacing the stamp from the context of the postal system calls into question its function; what is a stamp when it is not sent through the mail? What information can it convey on its own? 

After becoming inspired by “Artists’ Stamps and Stamp Images,” Canadian mail artist Michael Bidner (1944-1989) created the extensive Standard Artistamp Catalogue. Bidner put out a call for artistamps to create his catalogue and received thousands of submissions. He developed a database that catalogued the countless stamps he received. The entire collection caps off at 10,000 image. He also curated the first exclusive exhibition of artistamps, Artistampex, at Forest City Gallery in London, Ontario, in 1984. There, 1000 mail artists from 29 different countries were represented by wall-to-wall artistamps. At the height of his project Bidner corresponded with all 1000 artists, and sent out 20 letters a day.  The Hungarian alternative art database Artpool now possesses Bidner’s extensive collection of artistamps.

In 1989, Felter curated the International Invitational Artistamp Exhibition at the Davidson Gallery in Seattle, Washington. The catalogue for that exhibition was one of the first major pieces of literature that covered stamp art. The exhibition was invite-only, which was controversial in the Mail Art community, as it contrasted the norms of typical Mail Art exhibitions, which dictate exhibitions to be open call accept all submissions. This resulted in an interaction between philatelists and mail artists that proved them to be at cross purposes. In an essay contributed to Chuck Welch’s Mail Art anthology The Eternal Network, John Held Jr. discusses his disdain when he was contacted by a dealer of Cinderella stamps after seeing his work on display. When Held Jr. suggested the dealer contact mail artists through a collaborative catalogue and gave him contacts, the dealer instead went around asking to purchase artistamps he saw as valuable, an unpopular approach. According to the values of Mail Art, there should be no hierarchies present within groups of artistamps, so coveting and collecting specific stamps is unnecessary. However, some mail artists favored a curatorial approach for the sake of inducting artistamps into the museum sphere. Harley Francis, a mail artist from Oberlin, Ohio, curated Corresponding Worlds-Artists' Stamps at the Oberlin College Allen Memorial Art Museum in 1987, and attempted to bridge the gap between mail art and traditional art world standards. He chose works he felt looked attractive, and commented that mail artists should be active participants in entering their works into the art world.

Artistamps often take their place in the art world and the world of philately, but very rarely are they recognized federally. In 2001, the Belgian government put out a call for aritsts to create personalized stamps, and commissioned Belgian mail artist Guy Bleus to create a stamp commemorating Mail Art. Bleus chose an image of himself wearing a ‘Mail Art’ t-shirt, a simple but effective way to acknowledge the movement.  

Guy Bleus’ official Belgian Artistamps, 2001. Image courtesy of Ginna Lotta Post Artistamp Museum 

According to Uruguyan artist Clemente Padin, “... the disruptive force of mail art is so great that, even this increase in professionalization does not affect its diffusion and growth.” (Padin, Mail Art and Its Place in the World Today) The political potential of artistamps is not to be ignored, despite their status as collectibles. South African mail artists distributed illegal anti-apartheid stamps to fuel protest, and Padin himself was imprisoned by the Uruguayan government for two years for his incendiary stamps protesting the military regime in Uruguay. Stamps are a clear and concise way to convey information, and their status as a bureaucratic symbol holds even more weight when they are used to subvert political power. 

The presence of an artistamp in one’s mailbox could inspire delight, confusion, or the urge to collect more. Their familiar-yet-unfamiliar quality calls into question the purpose of the objects we see everyday, and could even encourage recipients to question the boundaries of the systems present in their daily lives. 

Citations: 

Chandler, Annmarie, and Norie Neumark. At a Distance: Precursors to Art and Activism on the Internet. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006.

Cleaver, Emily. “The Subversive World of 'Cinderella Stamps'.” Atlas Obscura. Atlas Obscura, July 14, 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cinderella-stamps-donald-evans.

Held, John. “Notes Towards a History of Artistamps.” Notes toward a history of artistamps. Stendhal Gallery , March 21, 2010. http://stendhalgallery.com/?p=3478.

Janssen , Ruud. “THE MAIL-INTERVIEW WITH PATRICIA TAVENNER .” THE MAIL-INTERVIEW WITH PATRICIA TAVENNER. IUOMA, 1995. http://www.iuoma.org/tavenner.html

Jesperson, Rik. “Banana Stamps out Her Very Last Batch.” Coast Reporter, March 4, 2021. https://www.coastreporter.net/local-arts/banana-stamps-out-her-very-last-batch-3515049.

Lloyd, Ginny. Women in the Artistamp Spotlight. Jupiter, FL: TropiChaCha Press, 2012. https://www.academia.edu/27872853/WOMEN_IN_THE_ARTISTAMP_SPOTLIGHT_2012

Padin, Clemente. “MAIL ART AND ITS PLACE IN THE WORLD TODAY by Clemente Padin - Artist Matter Zine.” Artist Matter. Crosses.net, May 14, 2021. https://artistmatter.crosses.net/mail-art-and-its-place-in-the-world-today/

Posted by Allison Tepper, 12-Month Fluxus Intern. “MoMA: Unpacking FLUXUS: The Unruly Stamp.” InsideOut. MoMA, July 12, 2012. https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/07/18/unpacking-fluxus-the-unruly-stamp/.

Welch, Chuck. Eternal Network: a Mail Art Anthology. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary Press, 1995.