I AM STILL ALIVE
Past exhibition
The presentation I AM STILL ALIVE. Mail Art in the Kröller-Müller Collection features artists’ letters and messages from On Kawara, Gilbert & George, Jan Dibbets, Alan Sonfist, herman de vries and others.
Telegrams and postcards
‘I AM STILL ALIVE’. On Kawara confirms his continued existence with telegrams to artists, collectors, gallery owners and curators. The slogan ‘I GOT UP’ also makes its way around the world: between 1968 and 1979, the artist sends two postcards every day with the message that he has risen. The text is always the same. The stamps, postmarks and address change, depending on where he is at that time.
On Kawara, I am still alive, 8 May 1971
Gilbert & George, Decadent Art, 1969
Art for all
Artists have always been sending letters and messages, but not all mail sent by artists is automatically mail art. The origins of mail art lie in the 1960s, when American artist Ray Johnson sends collages to friends and receives their responses in the mail. Shortly afterwards, Fluxus artists such as George Maciunas, Yoko Ono and Robert Filiou begin using the global postal system to distribute their art. The artists of this international collective aim to avoid the beaten path within the established art world of traditional institutions, such as the art market, museums and galleries. They seek to make art democratic and accessible to all. Mail is an affordable alternative communication channel with an enormous reach.
The Kröller-Müller Museum has a modest collection of mail art, mostly from the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was the heyday of this art form. In addition to mail art by On Kawara, I AM STILL ALIVE also presents work by Gilbert & George, Jan Dibbets, stanley brouwn, Eva Hesse, Alan Sonfist and herman de vries from the collection.
