Ed Varney became interested in exchanging art through the postal system in the early 1970s. A loose network of artist began to use these exchanges as an important part of their art strategy –disseminating both personal and political ideas, arranging exhibitions which included each other’s work, and producing publications. This web of associations became known as the Mail Art Network and was a networking precursor of the internet.

As well as exchanging art and publications via the postal system,Varney has organized over a dozen Mail Art exhibitions. With the approaching 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he felt this would be a great opportunity to stage an art event which paralleled the Olympics but which was completely egalitarian and based on co-operation rather than competition. He felt that such an exhibition would have many of the qualities which drove the modern Olympic movement before it became distorted by rampant commercialism.

For the Mail Art Olympix, he picked three “event” categories. The first “event”, the artist Self Portrait, is a format which has always been interesting to both artists and the public. He felt that this intimate form would be an exciting visual treat, focusing as it does on how artists present themselves and the many masks they wear.

The second event, Artistamps, seemed like a good choice since many artists around the world worked in this format which parallels and parodies official postage stamps – something which mail artists use a lot.

Artists interpreted the Artistamp category liberally and produced not only sheets of artistamps, but designs for potential stamps, collages that used stamps, and rubber stamp art as well.

He chose Manifestos as the third event knowing that even if there were not as many entries as the other events, it would give insights into the concerns, methods and intent of artists. Surprisingly, many of the manifestos that were sent to him were visual rather than written.

Beginning in early 2009, he sent out invitations to about 250 artists on his mailing lists and distributed the invitation through arts journals and the internet. He received work from over 350 artists representing 41 countries, much of it in colourfully decorated envelopes. Most artists participated in more than one event category.

Mail Art is seen as a particularly important form in countries where freedom of expression is limited. Mail Art allows artists to comment on political and personal issues outside their home countries in a completely free and uncensored environment. There is also a Dadaist sense of humour apparent in a lot of Mail Art and a sense that Mail Art exists outside the “art world” of commercial and institutional galleries, art criticism, and an unhealthy concern with money which dogs much of contemporary art. Many of the manifestos address these concerns.

At the end of these three exhibitions, a catalogue will be mailed to each of the participants. Varney hopes that other artists and arts animators in other countries where the Olympics will be held in the future will create variations on the Mail Art Olympix to allow artists to participate in what has become a closed and elitist spectacle.

For more information, you can e-mail Ed Varney at evarney@shaw.ca

The Mail Art Olympix will be exhibited at the:

Comox Valley Art Gallery in Courtenay, BC from November 13 to December 31, 2009
The Penticton Art Gallery in Penticton, BC from January 22 to February, 2010
The Havana Gallery in Vancouver, BC from February 21 to March, 2010