LOOKING BACK LOOKING FORWARD
A New look for Old Photos - A show of works by Picasso Gaglione
Eve-N- odd Gallery 645 Central Ave St Petersburg, Florida Opening 7 Sept 2013
Text by Darlene Domel
Picasso Gaglione created many incarnations and identifications during his long career as a conceptual artist.
He was one of the very early correspondents in the mail art network started by Ray Johnson and his work under the post name “dadaland” is present in catalogs and the documentation of mail art shows beginning in the late 60’s and continuing to the present day. A large body of his mail art work is part of the permanent collections of the archive of the Library of San Francisco, the Center for the Book Arts in Minnesota, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the special collections section of the Art Institute of Chicago.
A fascination with all things Italian led him to the discovery of the Futurist Sintesi theater pieces in the late 50’s and ultimately to the performance of these pieces all through the mid 70’s and into the twenty first century. His involvement with the Fluxus art movement in performance art is well documented from the mid 60’s to the present day. He currently performs at art events in museums, galleries and art centers under the title “DADA machine FLUXUS”.
He began to use rubber stamps in his artwork in the early stages of his career and finally, in the late 70’s, taught himself how to make rubber stamps for his own use. In the early 80’s he and his wife, Darlene Domel, founded the fine art rubber stamp company, “Stamp Francisco” and became an inadvertent influence in the foundation of the rubber stamp industry. For more than thirty years they have worked to encourage, teach and inspire others to produce and use rubber stamps creatively.
Gaglione offers a video tour of his very first “Rubber Stamp Museum, dating from the early 80’s, on “you tube” under the title “Abracadada Rubber Stamp Museum. They opened their first rubber stamp store in the early 80s in San Francisco. During this period Picasso also began the series of accumulation publications entitled “STAMPZINE” in which contributors were asked to contribute 75 hand stamped pages. He then compiled the pages and designed the covers. All contributors received an issue containing these original art pieces and museums and art libraries regularly collected editions.
Picasso took this craft into fine art world in the 90’s with the creation of his “ StampArt Gallery.” He decided that the gallery would exclusively exhibit the use of rubber stamps in fine art by notable international artists. He personally selected each subject and researched information for every monthly show. He designed a unique poster and catalog for each event. The gallery poster collection was recently featured in a one-man show in New York City and the catalogs are now part of the permanent collection of the library of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
He is recognized as one of the earliest creators of art “zines’ and other limited edition art magazines beginning in the early 70’s. He coined the word “Dadazine” to describe these works. He was an active participant in the development of the “artistamp” concept and still uses his own antique perforating machine to create limited editions of his “Stamp Art” zines, the conceptual combination of both art forms.
One of Picasso’s most innovative creations is the limited edition box set. Each of these handmade box sets usually, but not always, contains a combination of his favorite art forms: a rubber stamp, a zine - often entirely hand stamped, and an artistamp sheet focused on a subject of some particular fascination to him. They are produced in very limited editions and succinctly reflect his rather whimsical perspective on some provocative and often obscure fragment of art history.
The works in this show contain a capricious collection of altered antique photographs bearing the unique “Gaglione” signature. With pen and ink Picasso carefully creates another layer of complex designs over the old images in a kind of dada art graffiti that transforms the antique into a modern, witty dynamic. He draws history into fantasy.
Picasso Gaglione never stops making art or discovering new ways to make art. Examples of his works can be found in private collections and major art museums worldwide
Picasso Gaglione and his wife currently reside in Lake Villa Illinois, outside Chicago. He still produces a line of rubber stamps in addition to his other artworks. He can be found actively corresponding with other artists all over the world via his “Facebook” page.
© Darlene Domel 2013
Gallery Information: Eve-N- odd Gallery
Interested in Picasso Gaglione's Rubber Stamp Boxed Sets?
Contact Picasso here: Picasso Gaglione picassogaglione at yahoo dot com
Here's the entire inventory:
BOXED STAMP SETS:
1. ARMAN: PAINT BRUSH CACHET. 1997.
Housed in a wooden box, the image of a paint brush on a rubber stamp, drawn expressly for The Stamp Art Gallery by Arman, measures 8" x 3/4". The paint brush and other tools of artists have figured prominently in Arman's work for many years. One of the first Post-WWII artists to work with the rubber stamp, Arman's participation with The Stamp Art Gallery marks a high point in our investigation of the medium.
2. BAY AREA DADAISTS: DROPPED. 1999.
Twelve rubber stamps produced for the exhibition, “Bay Area Dada: Before Punk and Zines,” at Printed Matter, New York, January-March 1999. Ray Johnson “bunny heads” are modified dropping Buster Cleveland, Anna Banana, Jerk Vanzetti, Rockola, Geoffrey Cook, Pat Tavenner, Ginny Lloyd, Polly Ester Nation, Irene Dogmatic, Carl Loeffler, Princess Kroptkin and “but not Fred.” Rubber stamp reading “The Bay Area Dadaists,” is also included. Two stickers from the exhibition are used on the front and inside covers.
3. BELGIUM FLUXUS BY LUCE FIERENS. 1996.
The three stamps in this boxed set are an ongoing tribute to the influence of Fluxus, and its spirit of collaboration among international cultural workers. Luce Fierens, an active networker from Mechelen, Belgium, who edits a series of Postfluxpostbooklets, has joined with Belgian artists José VdBroucke and Kristof Debris, along with Irish artist Ben Allen and American Mark Corroto, in creating these homages to the Fluxus movement.
4. JEFF BERNER: SELF PORTRAIT STAMPS. 1997.
Berner was a leading participant in West Coast Fluxus, responsible for distributing Flux Kits and other of the group's works to head shops in the Bay A
5. BUGPOST: INSECTASTATES CANCELLING DEVICE. 1996. Seattle artist Dominique Bugpost has created a canceling device depicting one of the Ornot cancels from his alternative world, The Insectastates. This parallel universe has a number of stamp producing spiders, ants, fleas and roaches. The cancellation is mounted on a specially produced varnished wooden mount, according to the instructions of the artist. The box set includes a text on Bugpost by John Held, Jr.
6. buZ blurr: CAUSTIC JELLY POST. 1997.
Caustic Jelly Post Portraits of buZ blurr are first begun by carving the negative portion of a Polaroid photograph, then photocopied and composed into stampsheets. This boxed set of two rubber stamps contains portraits of Picasso Gaglione and John Held, Jr./The Fake Picabia Bros. The text on the front inside cover of the box reproduces blurr's explanation of the creative process employed.
7. RICHARD C(RAVEN): CARRYING HIS 1950’S ATTITUDE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY. 2003.
Rubber stamp of a Richard C. drawing used for the posting of his correspondence art. Housed in a wooden box.
8. ULISES CARRIÓN: HERE AND NOW. 1996.
The death of Mexican artist Ulises Carrión in October 1989 at the age of 49 left a tear in the fabric of the international mail art network from which it has yet to recover. As the founder of Other Books and So bookstore and archive in Amsterdam, Holland, he was one of the first artists in the network to give mail art a public face. For Carrión, the new art form was a "cultural strategy," which could be used to change the world through increased communication and distribution. His may projects as a cultural worker brought him to the conclusion that, "There is no art and life, only life." Perhaps this is why he sent Picasso Gaglione a stamp design in the early eighties that reads, Here and Now.
9. GUGLIELMO ACHILLE CAVELLINI: 1914-2014. 1995.
To complement The Stamp Art Gallery exhibition of the late Italian artist's works, a special boxed rubber stamp depicting the famous logo Cavellini, 1914-2014, paired with The Stamp Art Gallery S.F. CA imprint has been reproduced. A sticker bearing the same design graces the black box in Cavellini's familiar green, white, and red.
10. M. B. CORBETT: WE ABSORB. 1996.
The origin of the various pictorial "charts" that Corbett uses to commemorate his influences date from 1978 when the Italian artist Carlo Battisti devised a Mail Art Bull in an homage to Guglielmo Achille Cavellini. Since that time, the image has undergone many variations within the Eternal Network, from cow to dragon to aardvark to skeleton and knight, each containing traces of the artists influences and friendships within the mail art experience. Four of Corbett's designs are included in this set.
11. DADA. 2003.
Oversize stamp bearing the word dada in floral lettering. Housed in a wooden box.
12. THE DALLAS CARVERS. 1994.
Three members of Dallas's active 3 O’clock Mail Art Choir group are featured in this set of six stamps. Rick Garlington, ex-posto-facto (Julie Paquette), and JEM (Joy McManus) contribute two stamp each to this set commemorating their 1994 exhibition at the Stamp Art Gallery.
13. DARLING DARLENE: FE-MAIL ART. 1997.
Over one-hundred and twenty women form seventeen countries were represented in The First International Female Artistamp Exhibition staged at the Gallery in January/February 1997. Darling Darlene, a participant in the show, designed three rubber stamps to commemorate the event. The images are based on postage stamps, cancellations and postmarks, all with the theme of "women in the post."
14. MARCEL DUCHAMP: RUBBER STAMP CHESS SET. 1996.
On August 13, 1918, Duchamp boarded a boat from New York City to Buenos Aires, where he would remain for the next nine months. In a letter postmarked January 7, 1919, he wrote to Louise Arensberg, the wife of his New York patron, "I am also going to join the local chess club down here to try my hand again. I had made up a set of rubber stamps (which I designed), with which I set up the games. I'm sending here an example for Walter. By designing a rubber stamp set in order to facilitate the prospect of playing chess by mail, Duchamp initiated one of the first postal actions incorporating the use of the rubber stamp medium. Even in his renunciation of art for Chess, Duchamp became a harbinger for the creative use of the rubber stamp medium.
15. MARCEL DUCHAMP:
THETEETH’SLOANDANDTRUSTCOMPANYCONSOLIDATED.
Reproduces the rubber stamp Marcel Duchamp used in producing his 1920 work, “Tzanck Check,” which was used to pay his dentist. The rubber stamp was used as background on the check to approximate banking security.
16. FLUXUS COMMERORATIVE. 2005.
Twenty variations on the Ken Friedman Fluxus/West rubber stamp logo by Buster Cleveland, Genesis P. Orridge, Al Souza, et al., are included as postcards and stamp sheets in addition to an oversized Fluxus/Chicago rubber stamp by Darling Darlene.
17. KEN FRIEDMAN: FAUX FLUXUS WEST EDITION. 1995.
The Fluxus West stamp designed by German artist Wolfgang Feelisch in 1970 for American Fluxus artist Ken Friedman has been widely imitated, punned upon, and transformed over the years by various mail and networking artists. This set contains six rubber stamps by Feelisch/Friedman, Chuck Welch, Picasso Gaglione, Steve Random, Luce Fierens, and Ed Varney. Presented in a die cut case, with inside cover label copy.
18. PICASSO GAGLIONE: BLACK MAIL POST. 1997-1999.
Contains three embossed black postcards with black artistamps affixed, a mini sheet of black artistamps, booklet with “Achrome Artistamp” (white) produced in 1997 and “Monochrome Artistamp” (day-glow orange) produced in 1996. Accompanied by a rubber stamp of a perforated postage stamp set in a die-cut mount.
19. SEVEN PAINTINGS BY PICASSO GAGLIONE. N.D. (2007).
Seven black monochrome paintings on cardboard. Realized in Chicago.
20. GAGLIONE THUMB PRINT. N. D. (2005).
Rubber stamp of thumbprint housed in wooden box
21. GAGLIONE, I; POSTER POEMS. 2008.
Oversize rubber stamp composed of random numbers, letters and signs ($,+,&) accompanied by five postcards impressed with the stamp, each signed by Gaglione.
22. RAOUL HAUSMANN: OFFEAHBDC. N. D. (2007).
Two large rubber stamps reproducing elements of German Dadaist Raoul Hausmann’s poster poems. The box set contains a twelve-page booklet documenting the action, two sheets of perforated postage stamps, and two cards.
23. GEOFF HENDRICKS: CLOUDSMITH. 1997.
Described by the artist as an "apparatus for catching and distilling the shape, sound, taste and texture of clouds," this boxed set of three rubber stamps by Fluxus participant Geoff Hendricks continues the tradition of the early Fluxkits. The three stamps depict scientific devices for trapping moisture. The front and inside covers of the box reproduce collage works by Hendricks. Prepared for the fall 1997 exhibition, Fluxus Boxed Rubber Stamp Sets.
24. GEOFF HENDRICKS: IDENTIFICATION KIT. 1997.
Five word stamps comprise this set. Four of them describe various cloud structures (cumulus, cirrus, nimbus, stratus), the other being "Fluxus." As Hendricks relates in his handwritten test on the inside cover of the box, "Could work up a short text about this-or it could stay a mystery." Mystery it is. Prepared for the fall 1997 exhibition, Fluxus Boxed Rubber Stamp Sets.
25. DICK HIGGINS: FLUXUS BEGINS TOMORROW! 2000.
“This boxed set honors the memory of Dick Higgins (1938-1999), a pioneering artist, who coined the term “Intermedia,” in an 1965 essay of the same name...Devoted to the study of the histories of the art of the rubber stamp and artist postage stamp, Picasso Gaglione has produced this boxed set to acknowledge the work and activity of Dick Higgins in both fields.” Includes booklet, postcards, stamp sheet and rubber stamp of a Higgins drawing. “Love Post.”
26. RAY JOHNSON/GEORGE BRECHT. 2004.
Rubber stamp of a collaborative work by Johnson (NYCS) and Brecht (Fluxus) produced in 1963. Johnson scholar William S. Wilson provides the background of the visual poem in a letter to Gaglione reproduced on the inside cover. Stampland.
27. YVES KLEIN: THE BLUE STAMP. 1996.
The postmark used to illegally cancel Yves Klein's 1957 Blue Stamp by an unknown French postal worker has been reproduced in recognition of one of the earliest postal art actions. The rubber stamp of the May 5, 1957, postmark is set in a gold box, with a text in pink, and a die-cut blue frame for the rubber stamp. The gold, pink, and blue item is a sensitive homage to Klein and his favorite working colors.
28. INTERNATIONAL ARTISTAMPS. 1995.
To commemorate the inaugural exhibition of The Stamp Art Gallery's artistamp program (dedicated to the late Canadian artist Michael Bidner), a special box set was issued containing a rubber stamp of English artist Robin Crozier's Post Painting artist postage stamp, a perforated sheet of the Post Painting stamps, and a 16 page booklet with a text by John Held, Jr. and the names of 450 artists from 40 countries participating in the opening show.
29. ALISON KNOWLES: ST(R)ING PIECE (FOR PICASSO GAGLIONE). 1996.
Commemorating a performance at Printed Matter in New York City, in May 1996, the six rubber stamps in this set represent the artists taking part in the work created by Fluxus artist Alison Knowles especially for the occasion. Buster Cleveland, John Evans, Picasso Gaglione, E. F. Higgins III, Dick Higgins and Richard Kostelanetz each hold their respective letters used in the performance.
30. GEORGE MACIUNAS: PASSPORT PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER MOORE. 1996.
When George Maciunas was planning his final trip to Europe in 1976 to participate in the New York-Downtown Manhattan: SoHo festival in Berlin Germany, he turned to his friend Peter Moore, the Fluxus "photographer of record," for his passport photographs. The three rubber stamps in this boxed set are taken from one of several contact sheets produced during the studio session. In a playful mood, Maciunas mugged, joked and began gesturing with his hands. Maciunas was enacting his definition of Fluxus, "a fusion of Spike Jones, gags, games, vaudeville, Cage and Duchamp."
31. PIERO MANZONI: CARTE D’AUTHENTICITE. 2008.
Reproduction of Manzoni’s, “Carte D’Authenticite,” consisting of the artist’s rubber stamp as receipt of authenticity issued after the 1961 performance, whereby Manzoni affixed his signature to another’s body and declared the action a work of art. Box includes four rubber stamps each with a handle of a different color.
32. PIERO MANZONI: MERDE D’ARTISTE 1961. 2003.
Reproduces the label of the Belgian artists’ 1961 encased work, “Merde d’Artiste.” Housed in a wooden box with text on inside cover. “The conceptual artist produced, weighed, numbered and signed ninety cans of his excrement. These were offered for sale by the ounce with the price based on the daily market value of gold.”
33. PIERO MANZONI: THUMB PRINT. 2003.
Rubber stamp of the Belgian conceptual artists’ thumbprint. Housed in a wooden box.
34. TOM MARIONI. 1996.
One of the leading San Francisco Bay Area Conceptualists, Tom Marioni has been an active presence in the region since 1968. His Museum of Conceptual Art and regular Wednesday salons have stimulated a generation of artists. This boxed set of two stamps, the Golden Rectangle and Pi, continues his conceptual investigations in a new medium. The collaboration with Marioni marks the first time The Stamp Art Gallery has worked with a local artist. It is an homage to his thoughtful inquiry into the nature and meaning of art.
35. DIANA MARS/ANTHONY RYAN/SETH MASON. 1995.
Three San Francisco artists are featured in this boxed set of six stamps commemorating their April 1995 exhibition at The Stamp Art Gallery. Diana Mars, Anthony Ryan, and Seth Mason each contribute two hand carved designs to this handsome set.
36. NEW YORK CITY FOREIGN MAIL CANCELLATIONS. 1996.
The first American postage stamps were canceled in various ways. Postmasters had to provide their own canceling devices, and they either scratched out a few markings with a crow quill pen, used a crude hand stamp carved from a small block of wood, or even a bottle cork with a design cut in it. Standardized cancellation marks were later instituted, but from 1850 to 1880, a postmaster used any design he pleased. From 1871 to 1877, a particularly attractive set of geometric designs were used in New York City on outgoing foreign mail. The Stamp Art Gallery has reproduced four of them.
37. OBJECTOFDE$IRE. 2006.
Four rubber stamps of works by Duchamp (readymades “Bottlerack” and “Bicycle Wheel”) and Man Ray (assemblages iron with nails and metronome with eye).
38. ED PLUNKETT: THE NEW YORK CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL. 1999.
“In 1962 Ed Plunkett coined the term: ‘The New York Correspondence School.’ We created this mail-art stamp set in his honor.” Text stamp reading, “The New York Correspondence School.” Photo postcard on front cover, “East Meets West,” pictures Joel Rossman, John Held, Jr., Ed Plunkett, Tim Mancusi and Picasso Gaglione.
39. POST FLUX KIT 8. 2002.
Homage to “Flux Post Kit 7,” produced by George Maciunas in 1968. Contains two rubber stamps, one sheet of stamps, and two postcards by Gaglione.
40. PUNKS. N. D. (2005).
Celebrating the thirtieth year of publication of “Punks” by the Bay Area Dadaists. Photographed in a photo booth in 1975, the “punks” were Carlo Cicatelli, Ken Doll, Bill Gaglione, Tim Mancusi, Opal L. Nations, Joel Rossman, Indian Ralph and Jorge Zontal. The box contains reproductions of original pages in artist stamp format, postcards, eight postcards, and a rubber stamp of Gaglione.
50. DIETER ROTH. STEMPELKASTEN. 2004.
Reproduces the multiple, “Stempelkasten,” produced by the German born artist in 1968. Text on inside cover. “The stamp set consisted of 12 rubber stamps, 2 stamp pads and 2 bottles of ink, one red and one black. It was the first multiple comprised exclusively of rubber stamps.” Housed in a wooden box.
51. TAKAKO SAITO: ENJOY YOUR LIFE. 1997.
The Japanese Fluxus artist Takako Saito was asked to participate in the fall 1997 exhibition, Fluxus Rubber Stamp Boxed Sets, and sent a stunning reply of visual poetry expressing her regrets in her inability to participate. "Enjoy with other artists, and Enjoy your life," she responded. It was pure found poetry, and the result is this wonderful conceptual piece of crossed purposes.
52. KURT SCHWITTERS: W. 2008.
Ornate rendering of the letter W. This was a one letter sound poem performed by Merz artist Schwitters, recreated in 2008 by Darlene Domel at The Stamp Art Museum, Chicago. A rubber stamp W is mounted on the cover of the sturdy cardboard box, with a text by Gaglione on the inside cover.
53. ANNINA VAN SEBROECK: FE-MAIL ART. 2000.
Edition containing biography, postcards, artistamps and rubber stamp by the Belgian Mail Artist. “Since 1994 she co-organizes all collective Mail Art shows (with) her husband Luc Fierens.”
54. MIEKO SHIOMI: ENDLESS MUSIC. 1997.
A conceptual event by Japanese Fluxus artist Mieko Shiomi conceived expressly for The Stamp art Gallery. Four stamps bearing melodies are accompanied by instructions for their use. Fluxus often concerned itself with vanguard musical concepts, and this tradition continues with Shiomi's contribution to the Gallery's fall 1997 exhibition of boxed rubber stamp sets by Fluxus artists.
55. VALDIMIR TATLIN: MONUMENT TO THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL. N. D. 2007.
An homage to Russian constructivist Tatlin’s unconstructed tower. Contains a rubber stamp of the monument cut to shape and a twenty-page booklet documenting the history of the work. Rubber stamp by Stampland
56. JEAN TINGUELY RUBBER STAMPS. N.D. (2007).
“From 1964 to 1974 Jean Tinguely designed a series of posters for his exhibitions using rubber stamps ass one of the design elements. This is a study on the stamp actions of the Swiss artist.” Includes an eight-page booklet, three postcards, and six found rubber stamps.
57. ENDRE TOT: ZEROPOST. 1995.
This special edition of Tot's Zeropost artist postage stamp design has been transformed into a rubber stamp by The Stamp Art Gallery with the artist's permission. Specially issued in connection with Tot's September 1995 exhibition. An eighteen-page booklet, Nothing Left to Say, is included, as well as a set of six postcards. The cover is decorated with a sheet of perforated artist postage stamps bearing the Zeropost logo.
58. WHY WE PAINT OURSELVES. N. D. (2004).
“We have joined art to life. After the long isolation of artists, we have loudly summoned life and life has invaded art. It is time for art to invade life. The painting of our faces is the beginning of the invasion.” (Mikhail Larionov and Ilya Zdanevich from “Why We Paint Ourselves” 1913). Contains a booklet documenting Russian Futurists performance, a sheet of perforated postage stamps, and a “Raylist Design” rubber stamp. Cardboard slipcase box.
59. MAY WILSON: THE RIDICULOUS PORTRAITS. 1996.
May Wilson (1905-1986), was an early correspondent of Ray Johnson and became a friend to many of the avant-garde artists of her day when she moved to New York City from Baltimore in 1966. Known for her assemblages constructed from objects brought to her by friends, she also did a series of Ridiculous Portraits, in which she superimposed photo booth portraits of herself onto reproductions of art works ranging from Goya's Naked Maja to Corbet's Lady in a Riding Habit. Three of the seminal feminist artist’s photo booth self-portraits are reproduced in this set. Often called “The Grandmother of the Avant-Garde,” Wilson is depicted in anything but typical poses.
rea. His collection of Fluxus material is now at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and formed the core of the influential exhibition, In the Spirit of Fluxus. The three portrait stamps in this set represent different aspects of Berner's career: Flux artist, photographer and author. Jeff Berner-Photographer was carved by Tim Mancusi. The text describing Berner's activities on the inside cover of the box was written by John Held, Jr. The set was prepared for The Stamp Art Gallery's fall 1997 exhibition of Fluxus boxed sets.
