Postcards in Modern Art

Postcards are more than a nostalgic item from the past – In fact, postcards appear in modern art all the time. From installations and sculptures to paintings and collages, these projects showcase the versatility and appeal of the iconic postcard.

Conceptual Art Postcards with Sherrie Levine

Sherrie Levine is an American artist known for her conceptual art. Her artwork often reinterprets the work of other artists. She has created a series of modern art projects with vintage postcards by using the original postcards as a starting point for her own artwork.

Liza Lou Promotes her Art with Postcards

Liza Lou is an American artist who creates absorbing artwork and sculptures that explore themes of labor and material culture. She has used vintage postcards in her artwork as a way to comment on the social and cultural values of the past.

One of Lou’s most recognized pieces is “The Beaded Kitchen,” a 68 square food modern art replica of a kitchen which she covered completely with millions of beads.

Julie Schneider wrote a piece for Hyperallergetic.com which discusses how postcards played an important role in origin story of this amazing piece of art

 After showing “Kitchenette,” a smaller version of the work at the art gallery at California State University, Fullerton, Lou sent postcards with photos of the installation to curators she admired, including to Marcia Tucker, founder of the New Museum in New York City. This led to “Kitchen” being exhibited for the first time in its entirety in A Labor of Love, a group show that Tucker curated at the museum in 1996

Hyperallergic.com – The Journey Behind Liza Lou’s Behemoth Beaded Kitchen

Ellsworth Kelly’s Postcard Exhibit

Finally, postcards are sometimes modern art in themselves. Ellsworth Kelly was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker known for his minimalist abstract artwork.

Kelly’s paintings and sculptures are famous for their clean lines, hard edges, and minimal detail. Museum collections around the world display his modern art, including a semi-permanent exhibit in my hometown of Austin Texas.

Check out this post on greg.org for some amazing images of the postcards in this exhibit

The Ellsworth Kelly Postcard Exhibit features over 150 of the artist’s postcard collages. At one point, USPS even sold matching Forever Stamps – so cool!

Your Own Projects

What about you? Have you used postcards in your own artwork? Even if your art isn’t ready for a modern art museum, there are still lots of ways to get creative with postcards.

Perhaps you need some inspiration to start your next project. If that’s the case check out our set of art postcards!