Mail Art as an art form which is democratic, spontaneous and reacts to current affairs was developed in the 1960s – it was first practised in the USA and then came to Europe shortly after. Mail Art does not mean the personal correspondence between two people, but rather using art to communicate to concrete, advertised projects. The motto: no fee, no Jury, no return puts no restraints on the content or the form of expression.

The Mail Art network enabled the worldwide exchange of thoughts and of art, for both artists and amateurs. Special mediums of expression developed through Mail Art, such as rubber-stamp art, artistamps, shaped envelopes, postcards, posters and assemblings. Significant portions of the Schwerin Mail Art Archive are made up of a collection of Berlin artists and Mail Artist Joseph W. Huber, who was active in the Mail Art network from the early 1970s.

Dr. Kornelia Röder
T +49 (0)385 5958 172
k.roeder@museum-schwerin.de

In April 2013, the Staatliches Museum Schwerin received a gift of a private mail art archive from the artist Enrique Ruiz Acosta from Monterrey, Mexico.

The archive consists of postcards, stamps, project descriptions and catalogues, including items from the beginnings of the mail art movement in the 1960s and documents from earlier activities by the Mexican mail art network. Thanks to the donation, the Schwerin mail art archive now has a Latin American focus.

Enrique Ruiz Acosta was impressed especially by conceptual art, which he became familiar with at the documenta exhibition in Kassel, as well as by impulses from the artistic underground movement. He regarded mail art as a bridge between artists from across the planet. It provided a way to circulate art beyond galleries and commercial institutions by exploiting the opportunities in the postal services. Moreover, he was fascinated by the relationships of mail art with the everyday and industrial culture. It was stimulating to be able to act without money or curatorial restrictions. Enrique Ruiz Acosta participated in numerous international mail art exhibitions, including the GAZETA project from Birger Jesch which was also shown in Schwerin. Today he is working in the field of conceptual art as a visual artist.