The Stamp of Artistry : In Huntington Beach, Colorful Works That Arrived by Mail

In a day when the price tag on even contemporary art can top $1 million and galleries command 50% commissions, there is a little-known corner of the art world where original works change hands for the price of a stamp.

“Mail art,” as it is called, grew up amid the idealism of the ‘60s and has survived--even flourished--in the more cynical ‘80s. Hundreds of artists worldwide trade their latest works through the mail, bypassing the mainstream gallery structure in what proponents say is an act of pure communication.

“This is not competitive at all,” said Huntington Beach resident Jeff Kurvink, a practicing mail artist since the early ‘80s. “There’s just no motivation as far as money is concerned, or trying to crack the market. It’s just this massive network. . . .

“It’s not mainstream by any means.”

A colorful exhibit of mail art is on display through Nov. 23 in Huntington Beach City Hall. As guest curator for the show, Kurvink solicited work from 600 mail artists with whom he has exchanged pieces over the years. More than 300 submitted entries: The show includes works from Italy, Romania, Venezuela, Korea, Uruguay, India, Portugal, East Germany, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and other countries.

Standard practice for exhibits of mail art has been followed: All submissions were accepted for display (some shows, unlike this one, do have size restrictions) and the artists are not being identified. The curator gets to keep the work, and for their trouble the artists will receive a list of the other participants to add to their list of correspondents.

The works on display in Huntington Beach represent a typical range of mail art styles, Kurvink said, from the traditional to the way out, from serious to wickedly satirical. One artist decorated a milk carton, put a stamp on it and mailed it to the show; another sent a small body-shaped bag full of water (the exhibit’s theme is “Bodies of Water,” and there are all sorts of interpretations).

Some works arrive in envelopes, but more often the work is sent directly through the mail, with the stamp and address incorporated into the design.

Kurvink conceived the idea for the exhibit and approached the city. As fate would have it, Ann Thorne and Naida Osline of the city’s Arts and Cultural Affairs had first heard of mail art just weeks before, and had discussed a show.

“It was just an absolute miracle” that Kurvink came to them when he did, Thorne said. “We wanted to do something a little bit different.”

The exhibit sits just outside the doors to the City Council chambers, and Thorne said she often sees people studying the works on their way to meetings. “It really has fascinated the public,” she said. And the concept of mail art, she added, “seems to intrigue people as much as the art” itself.

Kurvink latched onto the concept almost as soon as he first heard of mail art through some artist friends back around the start of the decade. “I figured this was a good way for my work to be shared,” he recalls. Kurvink works mainly in photo montage, and he photocopies post card-sized works to send through the mails. He said he sends about 200 works through the mail each year, and gets a like number in return. He is thinking of publishing a book of some of the art he has received.

Kurvink also creates larger photo collages and is involved in experimental film making. He works full time in procurement for an aerospace firm.

The mail art “has been one way to help me grow as an artist,” Kurvink said. But beyond that, he added, “it’s just a kick to come home at the end of the day and find all this neat stuff in your mailbox.

“I’m sure the people at the post office must get a kick out of it.”

“Bodies of Water” continues through Nov. 23 at Huntington Beach City Hall, 2000 Main St. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Information: (714) 848-8748.