Artist trading cards
Encyclopedia
Artist Trading Cards are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art
movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.
.
As one example, Michael Leavitt
specifically designed his Art Cards (2001–03) to be appreciated as originals unto themselves. His hand-painted small portraits of artists replicated traditional baseball trading cards in style and format. ArtCard subjects were drawn from varied genre, with icons such as Vincent Van Gogh
, David Byrne
, Bob Ross
, Frida Kahlo
, Jackson Pollock
, Laurie Anderson
, Björk
, and Michael Jackson
. The limited editions were hand-packed in wrappers with bubble gum, as Art Cards were sold personally by Leavitt and exhibited as art objects. Leavitt said, "It's a way I created to compare people and what they do across all kinds of different areas."
As for an earlier example, in 1991, Cleury Champion first sold his cards through the catalog of his avant-garde magazine eXpErImEnTaL (bAsEmEnT). Champion's most recognized cards were playing cards with experimental poems of John M. Bennett
rubber stamped on the face.
Mail art
Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.
History
M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996, holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. This resurgence of interest of Artists trading cards has spawned the popular ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) movement. Many people consider art trading cards and ACEO cards to be one and the same. Others feel they are decidedly different pieces of art.ACEO: Art Card, Editions and Originals
An offshoot of Artist Trading Cards are the "Art Cards, Editions and Originals" (ACEO). ACEOs originated when some artists began to create cards to sell, in addition to trading among themselves. Many ACEOs are sold on internet auction sites, such as eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.
As one example, Michael Leavitt
Michael Leavitt (artist)
Mike Leavitt is a visual artist based in Seattle, WA U.S.A., described as "the best caricature sculptor in the city" . The "über-allround-cool-creator" is most widely known for his "Art Army" series of hand-made action figures depicting visual artists, musicians, and entertainers...
specifically designed his Art Cards (2001–03) to be appreciated as originals unto themselves. His hand-painted small portraits of artists replicated traditional baseball trading cards in style and format. ArtCard subjects were drawn from varied genre, with icons such as Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
, David Byrne
David Byrne (musician)
David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...
, Bob Ross
Bob Ross
Robert Norman "Bob" Ross was an American painter, art instructor, and television host. He is best known as the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, a television program that ran for 12 years on PBS stations in the United States.-Personal life:Ross was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, and...
, Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....
, Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, and Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. The limited editions were hand-packed in wrappers with bubble gum, as Art Cards were sold personally by Leavitt and exhibited as art objects. Leavitt said, "It's a way I created to compare people and what they do across all kinds of different areas."
As for an earlier example, in 1991, Cleury Champion first sold his cards through the catalog of his avant-garde magazine eXpErImEnTaL (bAsEmEnT). Champion's most recognized cards were playing cards with experimental poems of John M. Bennett
John M. Bennett
John M. Bennett is an American experimental text, sound, and visual poet.- Writing and publishing :As well as steadily producing and distributing his own work, Bennett, through "Luna Bisonte Prods", a small press founded in 1974, has published thousands of limited edition items by writers who...
rubber stamped on the face.