Hasta La Ideas

Aug 03

Mail Me Art exhibition: Medium Without a Message

Posted in: Uncategorized

In order to gather the vast number of exhibited works currently on show (exhibition ends this Thursday) at Mail Me Art at South London’s Red Gate Gallery, Curator Darren Di Lieto asked for illustrators and artists to post envelopes adorned with artwork to the same address – over a period of a year…

This is the second year running that De Lieto (Senior Editor of Illustration News Portal, The Little Chimp Society) has organised a Mail Me Art show, and both established and amateur artists from around the world contributed – each watching their art disappear into the postal system and awaiting confirmation of its arrival at the other end, with no guarantee it would make the journey intact.

We thought it would be a good idea to get along to the exhibition and see the work first hand. Here are some of our favourite pieces:

This envelope is illustrated by 22 year old American illustrator Lauryn Buda, who is currently doing a major at The College of Visual Arts in Minnesota, USA. We like how the bottom half of the characters’ jaw somewhat resembes a teacup! This piece is priced at £10.

The above illustration of a carrier pigeon – which of course closely reflects the exhibitions theme – is by Brighton based illustrator and designer Joseph Wilkins. The pigeon, complete with postal sack, Converse trainers and a baseball cap truly looks the part. This piece of mail art will set you back £30.

This sad-faced, half empty glass character made its way to the exhibition all the way from Australia and was illustrated by award winning freelance artist/illustrator Benjamin Johnson. Price: £65.

This playful piece is by freelance Spanish artist Ana Menéndes Fuentes, who specialises in illustrations, cartoons and animations. Pick it up at the exhibition for £10.

Both of the above submissions are that of Jonathon Cusick, who is known for his work for the Radio Times amongst other things. Jonathon won the monthly competition for Mail Me Art, in July. These pieces can be purchased for £120 each.

This two-sided piece by Doug Dabb depicts a blindfolded boy against a wall stained with various splats. Turn over the envelope and we find out the fate awaiting the boy on the other side: he’s about to be pelted with water bombs thrown by a group of kids:

Above piece is by Dragica Ohashi. Apologies for the out of focus shot!

This black and white piece is by Humanivore, who specialises in concept art work.

The above envelope was sent by established Japanese multimedia artist, illustrator, fashion designer and creative make-up artist May Sum. Sum is the Chief Brand Manager and Creative Director of wahahafactory.com, and has worked with many famous fashion brands such as Vivienne Westwood. It’s really interesting and unique the way in which Sum manages to incorporate make-up and fashion with illustration, as well as creating a retro feel – very much of the moment. This print is availlable for £10 at the exhibition.

This illustrated envelope is by Baser and can be purchased for £30.

This illustration is by Jonathan Fidalgo and is priced at £120.

This decorative piece is by Yorkshire based graphic designer, Victoria Gregory. Check out more of her illustrations, as well as some typography here. Pick this piece up for £10 at the exhibition.

The above piece is by Sumbody and is availlable to purchase for £30.

This piece is by French sub-pop artist Pascal Cuttoli, of Royal Glamsters. Cuttoli had his first exhibition at just sixteen years old and his personal philosophy is “no style, no rules – just ideas and curiosity.” The above envelope is priced at £45.

Freelance illustrator, Michael Hacker is behind this fun canine envelope design, but there is more than meets the eye. On the reverse and inside of the envelope there is further illustration for you to check out at the exhibition or view on Hacker’s website. This was the January Mail Me Art competition winning piece and is available to buy for £65. Again, sorry about the out of focus photograph!

This illustration is by Brazilian born Roberta Masciarelli, whose work has been exhibited throughout the USA and Europe, as well as South Africa. Masciarelli has been a graphic designer for twenty years and is now based in Texas, USA. This piece is availlable to purchase for £10.

This piece is by illustrator Maura Cluthe and is priced at £120.

Cluthe says of the process of submitting her artwork “I have always enjoyed creating (and receiving!) mail art. I really like the addition of scruffs, marks, bumps and bruises it tends to receive while travelling through the postal system,” adding “Since I was sending this piece to England, I thought it would be fun to create something more durable to see how it would fare passing through so many hands.”

The above character – who reminds us of the character Leela from animated sci-fi, comedy show Futurama but with an extra pair of arms – is by Lulu Wang Parades. This illustration is found inside the external packaging used in transit, and is priced at £10.

The colourful piece (front and back, shown above) is by Canadian illustrator Melody Llewellyn. Llewellyn is a Fine Art graduate of ’96 and has an interesting site full of similar illustrations which you can check out. Priced at £10.

This piece of mail art, by Lina Kasparaityte, made its way to the exhibition from Lithuania. Availlable to purchase for £10.

This piece – which features similar illustration on all surfaces of the box – is by UK based illustrator Lee Hasler. Hasler’s inspiration comes from “1950’s and 60’s advertising characters, dirt cheap robots, lo-fi monsters,” as well as many other themes. Yours for £30.