Courtesy of the artist
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Modern Fluxus: Contemporary Mail Art from Around the World
at The Little Gallery at Bowling Green State University Firelands in Huron, Ohio, USA
through 4 December 2024
“Modern Fluxus” consists of art from the archive of curator Stephen Tomasko, which he has amassed as a practicing mail artist over the last few decades, especially highlighting work sent in response to a recent global call for new work. The gallery explodes with an abundance of correspondence art, over one hundred images made by contemporary artists from twenty-five countries, an astounding creative outpouring made and sent outside of the commercial realm in the spirit of Dada, Fluxus, and Mail Art. Most of the work in the exhibition is being displayed for the first time.
Courtesy of the artist
The work tends to be small, as a critical requirement of Mail Art is that it is passed from one artist to another through the postal services. Diminutive but powerful, the work knowingly faces an added element, that of chance, as the objects work their way along the unpredictable journey from sender to recipient. Postmarks, stamps, and machining marks become badges of honor, enhancing and providing the finishing touches to many of the works on display. In some cases, the envelopes themselves also become works of art.
Drawings, paintings, photographs, and prints are all well represented. Collage, a favorite medium of the artist, collector, and curator Stephen Tomasko, is particularly well represented in more than half of the works, including pieces by many well-known practitioners from around the globe.
(text adapted from material provided by the curator)
INFORMATION
The Little Gallery
Bowling Green State University Firelands
1 University Drive
Huron, Ohio 44839 USA
(419) 433-5560
Hours:
Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM