Call for Submissions: Mail Art: unlimited Dada
Deadline: EXTENDED to December 23, 2020 @ 11:59 p.m.
for mailed Artwork & Online submission
Upcoming Exhibition @ Propeller Art Gallery & Online
January 20 — February 7, 2021
MAIL ART SUBMISSION FORM
COVID-19 has created crisis and instability across the world. During this volatile time, with most of us stuck in place, the mail offers us metaphorical transport out of our immediate physical spaces. Mail can travel while we cannot.
In response, Propeller Art Gallery is creating an open call Mail Art Exhibition in January with all works available for sale unless otherwise noted by the artist.
This creative outlet for the community will serve as a physical artifact of the time we are living through and recognizes that, while many of our interactions have moved to the virtual realm, there is also increased interest in making things by hand.
You are invited to make a piece of Mail Art: art that can travel through the mail with a stamp.
What is Mail Art?
The Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus defines mail art as "works produced by artists, often in postcard format, specifically intended to be mailed to other artists or be displayed in an exhibition."
Mail art began in the 1960s when artists sent postcards inscribed with poems or drawings through the post rather than exhibiting or selling them through conventional commercial channels. Its origins can be found in Marcel Duchamp and Kurt Schwitters and the Italian futurists. But it was the New York artist Ray Johnson who, in the mid-1950s, posted small collages, prints of abstract drawings, and poems to art world notables giving rise to what eventually became known as the New York Correspondence School. Mail art can take a variety of forms including postcards, packages, faxes, emails, and blogs. In the 1960s the Fluxus artist On Kawara sent telegrams to friends and family that informed them he was alive. In the mid-1990s, the artist and curator Matthew Higgs set up Imprint, which posted art by young British artists, among them Martin Creed, to critics and curators. David Opdyke “this land” altered vintage postcards and combined them into large-scale works and the list goes on.
In your submission:
What emotions are you feeling, and how are you coping? What is one thing you want to remember from this time, or one thing you want to forget? What do you hope for in the future when “normal” resumes? What are you looking forward to? What feels just out of reach? What have you gained through this experience? What has been a surprise to you?
This is an unjuried show, as you, the artists are collectively our curators. Although historically some Mail Art initiatives have been without submission fees, Propeller, as a Members-run non-profit gallery since 1996 that receives no arts council funding, it is necessary to request a submission fee in order to present Mail Art: unlimited Dada.
Submission requirements:
Important Dates:
Deadline: Dec. 23, 2020
Online submission & mailed Artwork
Exhibition @ Propeller: January 20- February 7, 2021
COMPLETE SUBMISSION FORM then MAIL your Artwork to:
Propeller Art Gallery
30 Abell Street, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
M6J 0A9
A Zoom opening will be held in January with the date to be determined.
Additional Information:
25% commission will be collected on any work sold as a result of this exhibition for non-members, 20% commission will be collected for any work sold for Propeller members. HST will also be applied to the sales price.
All works are for sale unless otherwise noted by the artist.
How your submission will be used
This is a three-week physical exhibition. There will be a concurrent online exhibition and a digital catalogue that you will be able to download as a record and documentation of these works.
Deadline: EXTENDED to December 23, 2020 @ 11:59 p.m.
for mailed Artwork & Online submission
Upcoming Exhibition @ Propeller Art Gallery & Online
January 20 — February 7, 2021
MAIL ART SUBMISSION FORM
COVID-19 has created crisis and instability across the world. During this volatile time, with most of us stuck in place, the mail offers us metaphorical transport out of our immediate physical spaces. Mail can travel while we cannot.
In response, Propeller Art Gallery is creating an open call Mail Art Exhibition in January with all works available for sale unless otherwise noted by the artist.
This creative outlet for the community will serve as a physical artifact of the time we are living through and recognizes that, while many of our interactions have moved to the virtual realm, there is also increased interest in making things by hand.
You are invited to make a piece of Mail Art: art that can travel through the mail with a stamp.
What is Mail Art?
The Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus defines mail art as "works produced by artists, often in postcard format, specifically intended to be mailed to other artists or be displayed in an exhibition."
Mail art began in the 1960s when artists sent postcards inscribed with poems or drawings through the post rather than exhibiting or selling them through conventional commercial channels. Its origins can be found in Marcel Duchamp and Kurt Schwitters and the Italian futurists. But it was the New York artist Ray Johnson who, in the mid-1950s, posted small collages, prints of abstract drawings, and poems to art world notables giving rise to what eventually became known as the New York Correspondence School. Mail art can take a variety of forms including postcards, packages, faxes, emails, and blogs. In the 1960s the Fluxus artist On Kawara sent telegrams to friends and family that informed them he was alive. In the mid-1990s, the artist and curator Matthew Higgs set up Imprint, which posted art by young British artists, among them Martin Creed, to critics and curators. David Opdyke “this land” altered vintage postcards and combined them into large-scale works and the list goes on.
In your submission:
What emotions are you feeling, and how are you coping? What is one thing you want to remember from this time, or one thing you want to forget? What do you hope for in the future when “normal” resumes? What are you looking forward to? What feels just out of reach? What have you gained through this experience? What has been a surprise to you?
This is an unjuried show, as you, the artists are collectively our curators. Although historically some Mail Art initiatives have been without submission fees, Propeller, as a Members-run non-profit gallery since 1996 that receives no arts council funding, it is necessary to request a submission fee in order to present Mail Art: unlimited Dada.
Submission requirements:
- Name, address, email, phone number
- Maximum of three artwork images submitted: submission fees as follows
- 1 image for 25.00 payable through online submission form
- 2 images for 35.00 payable through online submission form
- 3 images for 45.00 payable through online submission form
- You give permission to use your submission material, without compensation, in any catalogue/publication of this exhibition
- Submission fees are non-refundable
- We reserve the right to refuse artworks which do not conform to the submission requirements or to Propeller standards
- Submission to include jpegs of the front and back of the artwork if you wish both sides included in the online exhibition and e-catalogue.
- If you wish your work returned, send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope, SASE to ensure its safe return.
- Be conscious of weight, the materials you use, and how you will mail your piece. You are free to use any medium you choose, while being conscious of the limitations and parameters. Visual art, text art or, a combination of the two are most welcome. Textile media, wood, collage, anything that will mail, is received in the spirit of ephemera and experimentation.
- NO glass, NO large packages, NO padded envelopes.
Important Dates:
Deadline: Dec. 23, 2020
Online submission & mailed Artwork
Exhibition @ Propeller: January 20- February 7, 2021
COMPLETE SUBMISSION FORM then MAIL your Artwork to:
Propeller Art Gallery
30 Abell Street, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
M6J 0A9
A Zoom opening will be held in January with the date to be determined.
Additional Information:
25% commission will be collected on any work sold as a result of this exhibition for non-members, 20% commission will be collected for any work sold for Propeller members. HST will also be applied to the sales price.
All works are for sale unless otherwise noted by the artist.
How your submission will be used
This is a three-week physical exhibition. There will be a concurrent online exhibition and a digital catalogue that you will be able to download as a record and documentation of these works.
