Press

Transmissions

Gallery Exhibition

A collaborative exhibition of correspondence art
created by artists with developmental disabilities

August 16 – September 27, 2007
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 16 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm

SAN FRANCISCO… Over the course of six months, over 200 pieces of art were mailed back and forth between artists at Creativity Explored and Studio by the Tracks in Irondale, Alabama. Along the way, the pieces collected stamps, postmarks and a few extra layers of paint as artists added elements to each others’ work. The results of this prolific correspondence are on display in an exhibition entitled “Transmissions” at the Creativity Explored Gallery August 16th through September 27th. The show opens with a reception featuring live music on Thursday August 16th from 7 to 9 p.m. All artwork may be purchased at the Creativity Explored Gallery, open Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and Saturday from 1:00 to 6:00 pm.

The idea for “Transmissions” came about when Creativity Explored instructor Theo Callozzo met fellow artist Chris Lawson through a mail art exchange and discovered that Lawson also worked at an art center for artists with developmental disabilities, Alabama’s Studio by the Tracks. The two knew they had an unprecedented opportunity to initiate a large-scale collaboration using the medium they both loved themselves – mail art.

“Everyone loves to get real mail,” says Callozzo who is co-curating the exhibit with Lawson. “And mail art is a way to engage strangers in a visual conversation. We wanted the artists we work with to look at each mailing as an inspiration or initiation for some act of art.” In some cases, this meant adding to or drawing over someone else’s piece, a rare blurring of authorship between artists and one of the conceptual premises of the project. Creativity Explored artist James Montgomery received a flat piece of cardboard with an old Tommy Dorsey fox trot album glued to it. He quickly covered the piece with his signature clock faces. Creativity Explored’s Vincent Jackson drew an outline of a human figure and mailed it off to be colored in by someone else. San Francisco’s Walter Kresnik chose not to paint over the drawing he received, instead making a copy of it in his own unique style.

Almost all of the pieces were mailed as is. “We didn’t use envelopes,” says Lawson. “We wanted the art surfaces to be exposed to the shipping process. Part of the mail art tradition is that added layer of post office aesthetic.” So, the work bears all the markings of its journey between cities with addresses carefully written out, interesting stamps and postmarks. Studio by the Tracks’ Michael Hall found his inspiration in a postal product, painting a large-scale replica of the row of Sugar Ray Robinson 39-cent stamps he mailed it with. Creativity Explored’s Thomas Pringle glued a small map of the United States on his piece and drew a line of arrows connecting San Francisco and Irondale as a helpful visual reference for himself and the post office.

For Callozzo, this turning loose an art object in the mail system is half the fun. “Who knows who is seeing this stuff as it gets processed,” he says. “Hopefully it makes someone laugh or think about what they are seeing.” In the case of this particular mail art exchange, Callozzo says it found a fan behind the counter of the post office at 23rd and South Van Ness. “This guy working there said, ‘Wow! Who made this? It’s great. I want my kids to see it!’” Lawson had a similar experience with his Irondale postmaster Don who claimed the colorful and unusual mail made his days more interesting.

Not all the mail carriers were thrilled with the project however. Some of the pieces definitely pushed the boundary of what is permissible to send. From a large framed canvas to a flattened cigar box, the decorated objects that successfully made it through the mail are sometimes as surprising as the art itself. Studio by the Tracks’ Julia Lowry Jones painted a duck on one side of a torn book cover with the title “All About the Human Body.” Rosemary Calafrancesco, also of Studio by the Tracks, chose an old Cuban cigar box lid for her favorite subject, Princess Di’s wardrobe. Alabama’s Melvin Roscoe mailed several pieces of wood on which he painted signs for such things as ‘New and Improved Grapes $2 lb.’

Calendar Listing

Transmissions

GROUP EXHIBITION AND OPENING: San Francisco’s Creativity Explored and Alabama’s Studio by the Tracks present a collaborative exhibition of correspondence art created by artists with developmental disabilities in both states. Over the course of six months, over 200 pieces of art were mailed back and forth between artists at Creativity Explored and Studio by the Tracks in Irondale, Alabama. Along the way, the pieces collected stamps, postmarks and a few extra layers of paint as artists added elements to each other’s work. The results of this prolific correspondence are on display in an exhibition entitled “Transmissions” at Creativity Explored.

What

Transmissions - a collaborative exhibition of correspondence art created by artists with developmental disabilities

When

• Opening Reception: Thursday, August 16, 2007 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm
• Exhibit Dates and Times: August 16 – September 27, 2007, Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, Saturday 1:00 to 6:00 pm

Where

Creativity Explored Gallery
3245 Sixteenth St. at Guerrero, San Francisco

Creativity Explored is a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art.

Press Images

Please speak to our press contacts to obtain a Press Images username and password. View the Press Images →

Press Contacts

Nina Sazevich: (415) 752-2483
Amy Taub: (415) 863-2108

# Posted on July 11, 2007