“The Letters of Ray Johnson”
Dublin Core
Title
“The Letters of Ray Johnson”
Subject
Invitation to the exhibition at Modern Realism
Description
Ray Johnson, an important mail artist who founded the New York Correspondance School, used the bunny rabbit as a key symbol of the school and it’s participants starting in the mid 1960s. He never omitted the possibility of depicting a message through imagery. As he started out in painting, really emphasizing colored strokes and line quality, he already had the eye for value and shape. As his work progressed, he moved into of a more iconographic style, in which his hand drawn bunny made its debut. The bunny started right around the time that he “killed” his New York Correspondance School, and made headway to what would become essentially his mascot.
This postcard, created for an exhibition historicizing mail art, presents an invite for a show in Dallas, Texas. It holds a very simple message of what mail art is and all of its effects. It creates a conversation, it provides identity to the writer, it provides muse to the receiver and an overall communal aspect. The ambiguity that comes in his envelopes provides mystery and openness for the receiver. For this particular piece, I can imagine that the receiver would feel very lucky to have this show up in their mailbox, as the front is very playful and seems home made rather than produced by an institution. It also may create an avenue for the receiver to believe that they now have some kind of special position in owning now a piece of mail from Ray Johnson, considering the entire exhibition is about his practice of sending mail.
The iconographic properties are the more contemporary elements, where the formality lies on the back of the card. The material is plain cardstock with no color. Keeping this in clear print, with no hashing or script, is important in that he is clearly paving a map for the viewer to search and register who these descriptive inquiries are about. Are they about the mail art community or about the leader of it all, Johnson himself, and is that answer necessary? The simplicity keeps the viewer engaged and connect in order to figure out Johnson's iconic bunny code and social pet snake.
This postcard, created for an exhibition historicizing mail art, presents an invite for a show in Dallas, Texas. It holds a very simple message of what mail art is and all of its effects. It creates a conversation, it provides identity to the writer, it provides muse to the receiver and an overall communal aspect. The ambiguity that comes in his envelopes provides mystery and openness for the receiver. For this particular piece, I can imagine that the receiver would feel very lucky to have this show up in their mailbox, as the front is very playful and seems home made rather than produced by an institution. It also may create an avenue for the receiver to believe that they now have some kind of special position in owning now a piece of mail from Ray Johnson, considering the entire exhibition is about his practice of sending mail.
The iconographic properties are the more contemporary elements, where the formality lies on the back of the card. The material is plain cardstock with no color. Keeping this in clear print, with no hashing or script, is important in that he is clearly paving a map for the viewer to search and register who these descriptive inquiries are about. Are they about the mail art community or about the leader of it all, Johnson himself, and is that answer necessary? The simplicity keeps the viewer engaged and connect in order to figure out Johnson's iconic bunny code and social pet snake.
Creator
Ray Johnson
Source
Archives of American Art
Publisher
Archives of American Art
Date
1982
Contributor
Elizabeth Moore
Rights
Ray Johnson Estate, New York.
Relation
[no text]
Format
Postcard
Language
English
Type
Mail Art
Identifier
[no text]
Coverage
[no text]
Files
Collection
Citation
Ray Johnson , ““The Letters of Ray Johnson”,” Collaborative Correspondence: Mail Art from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, accessed May 9, 2024, https://collaborativecorrespondence.omeka.net/items/show/41.