Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- James Evans mail art collection
- Dates:
- 1970-1987, bulk 1984-1987
- Creators:
- Evans, James
- Abstract:
- The collection assembled by James Evans reflects his own involvement in the mail art movement from from 1970 to 1987, particularly in the 1980s. Included are approximately 280 mail art projects by American, European and Japanese artists, as well as related ephemera, correspondence and publications. A large portion of the collection is books, stamps, stickers, postcards, and manifestos by Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, the Italian mail artist who coined the term autostoricizzazione (self-historicization).
- Extent:
- 2 Linear Feet (5 boxes, x flat-file folders)
- Language:
- Collection material is in English with some materials in Italian and German.
- Preferred citation:
-
James Evans mail art collection, 1970-1987 (bulk 1984-1987), The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2010.M.37
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection assembled by James Evans reflects his own involvement in the mail art movement from 1970 to 1987, particularly in the 1980s. Included are approximately 280 mail art projects sent to or collected by Evans, as well as related ephemera, correspondence and publications. The mail artwork encompasses a variety of media, including postcards, books, drawings, photocopies, images made with rubber stamps, and postage stamps designed by artists.
Consistent with the international scope of the mail art movement, the Evans collection includes work by artists from numerous countries. A large portion of the collection consists of work by or about Italian artist Guglielmo Achille Cavellini and his long-term project of autostoricizzazione (self-historicization), a concept he devised in 1970 as an alternative to the mainstream art world's critical and marketing apparatus. Other significant contributors include American artists Laurence Angelo, Jerome D'Angelo, John Evans, Keith Glancy, and Lorenzo Post; Italian artist and musician Vittore Baroni; Japanese artists Ryosuke Cohen and Shōzō Shimamoto; Hungarian artists György Galántai and Júlia Klaniczay; Canadian artist Hokey Mokey; German artist Christoph Machart; and French artist Robert Morillo.
ArrangementArranged alphabetically by last name with works by multiple artists and unidentified artists at the end, followed by assorted ephemera.
- Biographical / historical:
-
American artist and mail art collector, James Evans worked at the J. Paul Getty Museum from the early 1980s until 1990, first as a preparator and then as Assistant Conservator in the Department of Photography.
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired in 2010.
- Processing information:
-
Initial rehousing was done by the Registrar's office. In November-December 2012, Sue Tyson devised an arrangment plan, processed the collection, and wrote the finding aid. Andra Darlington revised the finding aid in March 2013.
- Physical location:
- Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Mail art
Mail art -- 20th century
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-10-27 14:55:38 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers.
- Terms of access:
- Preferred citation:
-
James Evans mail art collection, 1970-1987 (bulk 1984-1987), The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2010.M.37
- Location of this collection:
-
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
- Contact:
- (310) 440-7390