The most amazing things in the mail from Lithuania

I have never regretted the way I accidentally stumbled into the world of mail art about seven years ago.  I love walking up to the post office and anticipating what surprises wait for me.  And, of course, I enjoy sharing my own art and sending it out to the world.  Every now and then there is something in that box that is truly extraordinary.  The sort of things that, when I show them off to friends, they too want to start sending andreceiving mail art.  Last week an envelope from Mindaugas Žuromskas arrived from Lithuania.  It contained this incredible set of stenciled images applied to what appears to be old, bureaucratic ephemera.  I am absolutely delighted to add these to my own, personal art collection.

Alus

Alus, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

Alus, it’s the Lithuanian word for beer.  European friends have been sending me beer labels from places like Luxemburg, Switzerland and of course Lithuania.  This is a latest in a series of beer-themed art and it’s dedicated to all of us with the habit of drinking beer and then peeling labels off of the empty beer bottles.  Well, if you cut those labels up and use the shiny pits in particular, you end up with something like this.

Alus will be shown in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer in October.