Johnson, Ray

Kissing Mail, 1955.

Mixed media, ink and watercolor on card mounted on mailed letter envelope with cancelled stamp, addressed by the artist to Mr. David Herbert, Janis Gallery, with "Ray Johnson Collages" return address. Mounted and framed.

“mail art has no history, only a present.” Ray Johnson, created the international mail art movement, one of the more unusual and democratic art projects of the post-war period and a high point of Fluxus work. Originally a painter associated with the New York School, Johnson began in the mid 1950's to collect correspondents who would exchange objects and messages through the postal system. Johnson initiated the project by mailing out  collage-like works to his mailing list, encouraging the recipient to keep, add or change the small artworks and of course forward  them to others or simply to  return to sender.  The New York Correspondance School was thus born and by the 1970's included a rather large group of mail artists. The present is one of his earlier works for the project. (see rayjohnson.org)