JCM THE MUSEUM LIBRARY
"All Artistamps start with the postage stamp format. " - J. W. Felter

INTRODUCTION

Reproduced from the travelling exhibition catalogue
Artists' Stamps and Stamp Images
1974 - 1984

published by
The Simon Fraser Gallery
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia, CANADA

with the assistance of a grant from
The Canada Council, 1976

reprinted in
Correspondence ART
Editors: Michael Crane & Mary Stofflet
Contemporary Arts Press, San Francisco, 1984


The word "stamp" as used in this exhibit refers to what might be termed the pseudo-postage stamp;that is, an alternate stamp opposed to the normal government publications designed for use in the official or government postal services of the world. Indeed, several "artists' stamps" (as opposed to postage stamps) were issued during government postal strikes. Examples are the Blue Stamp by Yves Klein of France and the stamps of Allen Jones of England. Others appear so much like postage stamps that they have travelled through the official services, mostly undetected (such as the 10c U. S. Air Mail by an anonymous American artist), and, I might add, often without the knowledge of the artist. One such stamp, US XX by William Farley, was affixed to an envelope mailed by a friend of Farley's to his mother in Phoenix, Arizona. The envelope was delivered by the U. S. Secret Service. The ensuing investigation led to Farley, and he was requested to turn over all remaining copies of the stamp to the Secret Service. He did. His purpose, however, was not to fool the U. S. Government (in Canada it is called stealing from the Queen), but to make a particular artist's statement which only could be made by an "artist's stamp".

Many artists, like Carl Douset in Canada and Dieter Rot in Germany, have produced Stamp Art as a part of a collection or folio of different works. Others, such as Robert Fried in the United States and Christopher Pratt and Harry Savage in Canada have produced a series of fine print stamp images. A few artists, for example, Donald Evans in the Netherlands and Joel Smith in the United States, have created stamp or "postal" paintings.

Donald Evans makes his stamps for a personal fantasy world. He began in 1957. May Wilson in New York makes her stamps to affix to her hand-sprayed cards. They are, then, not an end or statement in themselves, but personal art material to be used with other material to create something else. There are probably as many reasons why "artists' stamps" have been created as there are artists who have created them. But the Curator, and the public, is often more concerned with the objects than with the reasons, and though the reasons differ, the objects do represent a growing international medium of artistic expression.

The "history" of Stamp Art is contemporary. FLUXUS, an international artist's group devoted to research art, explored in the early 60's not only the medium of Mail Art using the government postal systems, but through FLUXPOST Projects created a para-postal system which from time to time - often with hilarious results - functioned along with regular government postal services in several nations. Ken Friedman, George Maciunas, Daniel Spoerri, Ben Vautier and Bob Watts, all colleagues in FLUXUS led to my commissioning of the Fluxpost Commemorative Issue which appears on the cover page. This stamp serves both as a document of the exhibition and as a commemorative of the work of FLUXUS WEST from 1964 to 1974. This stamp exists as a published multiple in both a signed and unsigned edition. It is the work of Ken Friedman and is based on the logo for FLUXUS WEST designed by Wolfgang Feelisch, Coordinator of FLUXUS WEST in Germany, and for FLUXUS ZONE WEST designed by Joseph Beuys, eminent German artist and art activist.

The earliest example of Stamp Art from Canada is the 1967 imperforate Centennial Project created by N. E. Thing Co. to commemorate an exhibition at the Douglas Gallery in Vancouver. The Coach House Press in Toronto has printed many of the Canadian artists' stamps, including Michael Hayden's 1972 Self-Portrait: Homage to Colonel Sanders, and the 1971-73 Johnny Canuck Issue by Nelvana Ltd..Rick/Simon, Vice president: Stamps, at Coach House, has himself designed several of The Coach House Press works, including the 1974 Kings Highway Stamp.

There are several important stamp artists whose original work could not be obtained for this exhibition. This introduction would not be complete without an acknowledgment of their contribution. They are George Ashley, Neil Felts, Allen Fish, Ray Johnson, Peter Martin, all of the United states; Yves Klein of France, Joe Tilson of England and Sylvia Palchinski of England and Canada. There are, I am sure, many others around the world who have made a contribution to Stamp Art. I have several names of artists in South America, Europe and Asia who are believed to have made Stamp Art, but at the time of publication, their contributions had not been confirmed.

22 March 1976


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