INVENTORY OF THE JAMES EVANS MAIL ART COLLECTION, 1970-1987, bulk 1984-1987
Sue Tyson
Descriptive Summary
Title: James Evans mail art collection
Date (inclusive): 1970-1987, bulk
1984-1987
Number: 2010.M.37
Creator/Collector:
Evans, James
Physical Description:
2 Linear Feet
(5 boxes, x flat-file folders)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
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).
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Language: Collection material is in English
with some materials in Italian and German.
Biographical / Historical Note
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.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
James Evans mail art collection, 1970-1987 (bulk 1984-1987), The Getty Research Institute,
Los Angeles, Accession no. 2010.M.37
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 2010.
Processing History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by last name with works by multiple artists and unidentified
artists at the end, followed by assorted ephemera.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Topics
Mail art
Genres and Forms of Material
Mail art -- 20th century
Contributors
Cohen, Ryosuke,
1948-
Angelo, Laurence
D'Angelo, Jerome
Glancy, Keith
Evans, James
Shimamoto, Shōzō,
1928-2013
Evans, John,
1932-2012
Machart, Christoph
Baroni,
Vittore
Mokey, Hokey
Post, Lorenzo
Galántai, György
Morillo, Robert
Cavellini, Guglielmo Achille,
1914-
James Evans mail art collection,
1970-1987, bulk
1984-1987
1984-1987
box 1, folder 1
Angelo, Larry,
1986-1987,
undated
Scope and Content Note
In addition to mail art by Angelo, this file also includes projects by other artists
such as Steve Frenkel, E. Seifried (Dott. Sw. Aqu'Flott Laboratories), and Freya
Zabitsky, which were sent to Evans by Angelo. Also included are two zines:
Art Police Express 3 (December 1982) and
The Rubber Fanzine 1, no. 4 (August 1986).
box 1, folder 2
B,
1984-1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes Bliss Blood, Guido Bondioli, and Sherman-Craig Brooks, among others.
box 1, folder 3
Barbot, Claudine,
1986-1987
box 1, folder 4
Baroni, Vittore,
1983-1987,
undated
box 1, folder 5
C,
1984-1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes Nancy Clark and M. Collins, among others.
Cavellini, Guglielmo Achille
1971-1987,
undated
1984-1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes postcards, stickers, postage stamps, illustrations, and textual materials
(Box 3, f. 1-6), as well as books by Cavellini (Box 3, f. 7-10). Among the books are a
memoir, books concerning living-room exhibitions and self-portraits, and other works
that domonstrate his project of self-historicization.
box 4, folder 1-4
Mailing containers
Scope and Content Note
These mailing containers were used by Cavellini to ship artwork and catalogues to
James Evans.
Cohen, Ryosuke,
1987,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Includes work from the Brain Cell mail art project.
box 1, folder 7-8
D'Angelo, Jerome,
1986-1987
box 5, folder 4
De Rosa, Salvatore,
1987,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Poster and postcards.
box 1, folder 9
Evans, John,
1983-1987;
undated
box 1, folder 10
F,
1984-1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes Mr. Fabulous, Arturo G. Fallico, and Steve Frenkel, among others. See also
Box 1, Folder 1 for more work by Frenkel.
box 1, folder 11
G,
1981; 1983
Scope and Content Note
Includes Mario Giavino, David B. Greenberger, and Harvey Griffin, among others.
box 1, folder 12
Galántai, György and Júlia Klaniczay (Artpool),
1987,
undated
box 1, folder 13
Glancy, Keith (Glancy & Hightower and National Neographic),
1985-1987,
undated
box 1, folder 14
Godsoe, Kevin,
1987,
undated
box 1, folder 18
L,
1986
Scope and Content Note
Includes M. Lara and Serse Luigetti, among others.
box 1, folder 19
M,
1985-1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes Judy Malloy [?], E. Mela, Daniel Millen, and David M. Miller, among
others.
box 2, folder 1
Machart, Christoph,
1986-1987,
undated
box 2, folder 2
Mazza, Italo,
1986-1987,
undated
box 2, folder 3
Mokey, Hokey,
1986-1987,
undated
box 2, folder 4
Morillo, Robert,
1985-1987,
undated
box 2, folder 6
N,
1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes Alexandre Nobrega, among others.
box 2, folder 7
P,
1983-1985
Scope and Content Note
Includes Boris Pasternak, Irma Perez, and Philippe Pissier, among others.
box 2, folder 8
Patterson, Clayton,
1987,
undated
box 2, folder 9
Post, Lorenzo,
1987,
undated
box 2, folder 10
Prajzler, Ivan,
1986-1987
box 2, folder 11
R,
1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes Wayne Reida and [?] Rodni, among others.
box 2, folder 12
S,
1984-1986
Scope and Content Note
Includes Stefano Sala and Tarzana Savannah, among others.
box 2, folder 13
S/M Designs,
1984-1987,
undated
box 2, folder 14
Seifried, E. (Dott. Sw. Aqu'flott Laboratories),
1986-1987,
undated
Shimamoto, Shōzō,
1986-1987,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Box 3, Folder 5 contains mixed graphical materials.
box 5, folder 3
Poster,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Contains one artwork, with text in Japanese. Flatfile 1** contains one artwork by
Shōzō Shimamoto, with text in English, Japanese, Italian, and German.
box 2, folder 16
T-W,
1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes Tom Truck and Peter Wilson, among others.
box 2, folder 5
Multiple Artists,
1987
Scope and Content Note
Folder contains works produced by several artists, including a zine, "for (small)
BRAVE ACTS," C.A.G.E., Cincinati, Ohio, October 23-November 21, 1987 (Kate Kern,
Project Organizer); and another zine, "Das Frohliche Wohnzimmer" and several
associated pieces, featuring artists including Fritz Widhelm, Christoph Machart,
Vittore Baroni, James Evans, Ilse Kilic, and others.
Unidentified Artists,
1984-1987,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Box 3, Folder 7 contains pieces by unidentified artists. Flatfile 1** contains one
poster by an unidentified artist.
box 5, folder 5
Poster,
undated
Scope and Content Note
One oversize poster by unidentified artist(s), plus a mailing envelope.
box 2, folder 18-19
Assorted ephemera,
1980-1987,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Items include invitations to mail art exhibitions and other print and graphic
materials of an ephemeral nature.
