unique

Postcard Art.

@NYPL Hudson Park Branch

April 1- April 28. 2023

66 Leroy Street, NY

*check with library for times.

Strictly speaking, this show should be called “Art Using Postcards.”  Most postcards were mass-printed. I use these common postcards as a foundation for one-of-a-kind artwork. Each of my postcards is unique. 

Initially, the sheer variety of images on cards attracted my attention. There is a postcard for almost everything. Then I noticed that the address side carried a message beyond what was written. It embodied the life history of the postcard itself. I started to see them as small paintings. Now I use both sides, image and message/address side.

Postcards are fragile. They show the wear-and-tear of postal and family handling, weather, accidental spillage, tears, and age. These qualities can serve as a subtext. They may suggest an image or design or provide a texture or pattern. 

In making my cards, I employ a number of techniques and materials:  paint, pencil, pen, wax crayon, magic markers, India Ink, printing methods, and collage.

On occasion, I will even mail them.