> contents / Multiplicity for Millions: Rubber Stamps Impress Minneapolis / John Held Jr. /

Flying from San Francisco, I was met at the Minneapolis airport by L. Scott Helmes, organizer of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts exhibition, "Multiplicity for Millions: The Art & History of Rubber Stamps," featuring antique rubber stamps sets from his collection. As we pulled into the hotel where I would be residing, we were greeted by Picasso Gaglione and his wife Darlene Domel, proprietors of Stampland, who had just arrived from Chicago with a van full of rubber stamps and stamp supplies.

After we had caught up with one another (Picasso and Darlene had previously resided in San Francisco, where we worked together at The Stamp Art Gallery from 1995-1998), I turned my attention to the catalog that Helmes had prepared for the exhibition. Featuring three essays and color reproductions of selected articles on display, I was pleasently surprised by the introductory essay by Sheila McNellis Asato, who had done an impressive amount of research concerning the history of the rubber stamp, uncovering a key work by T. O'Conner Sloane, "Rubber Stamps and the Manipulation of India Rubber," published in 1890.

Using this work as a source, McNellis Asato reiterates Sloane's history of the medium from discovery of sap from a variety of rubber trees in the Amazon to the materials' initial use in waterproofing and erasing products. Charles Goodyear added sulfer to the raw material in 1839, stabilizing the sap. This "vulcanization" made possible a wealth of new products, including rubber stamps, which first appeared about 1865.

The essay by Helmes, "Collecting Antique Rubber Stamp Sets," details his adventures in amassing the largest such collection in the country . A visual poet, Scott began collecting in 1974 as an aid to his art. He classifies his acquisitions into three major groups: marking sets (used in advertising), children's sets (especially cartoons) and educational sets (marketed to teachers). Helmes currently owns some 650 sets that number some 35,000 stamps.

The concluding essay in the catalog is penned by Gaglione, a collector of antique sets, who has continued to collect contemporary commercial manifestations. "Many of these modern stamps were multi-functional: cars that had stamps on wheels, or pens with stamps on top. Some stamps would even light up or play music when pressed down on the paper."

The next day, I was able to view a selection of their sets at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Housed in a stylish renovated industrial building, the Center shares its quarters with allied groups, including a writing center and a small publisher. A café fronting its entrance adds to the warmth of the venue despite biting winds outside.

The installation of the exhibition was overseen by resident book artist, Jeff Rathermel, who used the Center's modern display cases to maximum effect. The antique sets contributed by Helmes, wonderful in their lithographic advertising, were set perfectly against the clean lines surrounding them. Gagliones' collection of newer sets, from Barbie to Batman to Beavis, were also enhanced by the elegent framing.

Jeff had also set up several workstations, where gallery viewers could create their own rubber stamp art. A selection of rubber stamp Mail Art works was also on display courtesy of long-time Minneapolis rubber stamp aficionado Roz Stendahl. A classic Ryosuke Cohen Brain Cell silhouette of Musicmaster (Tom Cassidy) was also on display to great effect.

Gaglione and Domel gave several workshops on opening day (January 17). Veterans of the rubber stamp convention circuit, the two have mastered a rigorus routine of assembiling and breaking down their considerable inventory of stamps and supplies. Darlene demonstrated various techniques in rubber stamping, including using brushes in applying ink. Picasso had brought surplus rubber stamp scraps with him, which he encouraged workshop participants to cut up and collage on wood blocks. Ages of the workshop participants ranged from eight to eighty and everyone seemed to be having fun. Both Gaglione and Domel are legends of the rubber stamp scene, having done this in one form or another since 1980.

I took the time to prepare for a lecture I was to give that evening on, "Rubber Stamps and the 20th Century Avant-Garde." Some seventy people showed up for the lecture, in which I presented a selection of fifty slides ranging from the book arts of the Russian Futurists, to "stamp drawings" by German Dada artist Kurt Schwitters, "cachets" by French Nouveau Realist artist Arman in the fifties, Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence School and Fluxus in the sixties. Mail Artists developed sophisticated conceptual, graphic, and poetical stratiges for the new art medium in the seventies. The following decade, visual rubber stamps exploded with hundred of new companies appearing and conventions allowing practitioners throughout the United States to acquaint themselves with one another.

Questions concerning contemporary use of the medium outside an art context, prompted me to reply that one of the driving force of the avant-garde during the previous century was to shatter distinctions between the artist and his audience. The evolution of rubber stamp use from insular artistic activity to public use, brings those aspirations to fruition.

After the lecture, Gaglione and I performed, "Back to the Russian Futurists." Drawing inspiration, yet departing significantly from Italian Futurism, a mix of Russian painters and poets, notably Malevich, Mayakovsky, Kruchenykh and Rozanova, employed humble materials in zealous revolutionary graphic design. Linking work and image was a central concern, epitomized by the repetition and versatility of the rubber stamp. The performance by the Fake Picabia Bros., was a tribute to these early pioneers of the medium.

Previous to my departure from San Francisco, I had perforated one-hundred sheets of paper to which I had printed the title of the work, the place of performance, and the date. Gaglione and I began the performance by setting out the perforated sheets on the floor. We then attached rubber stamps to our shoes, inked them on oversize stamp pads constructed by Gaglione and began impressing the sheets of paper. We had performed this activity in the past, the first time in Paris at the 1995 opening of the Musée de la Post, "L'Art du Tampon," exhibition. At the conclusion of the performance, the sheets were given to those attending. Some were kind enough to have us sign them.

Those connected with the Center for the Book Arts, seemed very pleased by the exhibition, lecture and performance, mentioning that the reception had drawn the highest attendance of any previous event. Gaglione, Helmes and myself were equally pleased that a serious examination of the rubber stamp medium attracted interest from a diverse audience ranging from college professors to scrapbookers, once more confirming that rubber stamp have broad appeal throughout the population.

I flew back to San Francisco the following day, pleased that my short stay in Minneapolis contributed to a successful presentation. I recalled the days of my first acquaintance with rubber stamps in the mid-seventies, knowing nothing of their history, or if artists had used them previous to my own discovery.

Now rubber stamps, both antique and contemporary, have been presented to the public with a detailed history. "Multiplicity for Millions," sets a high bar for future exhibitions of rubber stamp art. The history it reveals, the art it displays, the interactive workstations and supporting programs, mark this exhibition a textbook example of displaying rubber stamp activity.

Copyright © by John Held Jr. - Johnheldjr@aol.com