Small Art, Big Statements

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Most of us think of postcards as the glossy tabloid of correspondence: pretty pictures, trivial statements, all easily forgotten. But California-based artist Julianna Parr had a different idea: Why not use the postcard as a legitimate artistic medium? Starting 10 years ago, she set out to draw or paint one work of postcard art each day. The result is Time Stamp: A Diary in Postcards, now at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center‘s Advocate and Gochis Galleries. Parr’s postcards are sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes abstract, but all take well to their tiny medium, where the confined space paradoxically makes them more expressive and accessible than would a bigger canvas of a similar work. According to the exhibit’s press release, Parr wanted not only to showcase her creations, but to remind the viewers that they could easily do the same thing and explore their own creativity. “One of the underlying themes of this show is that I did all of this, and you can too,” she says. The entire exhibit (over 1000 postcards) is also available to browse online, where you can search by keywords and order prints of your favorites.

(Thanks to Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog)

Image courtesy of Julianna Parr.

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