Article published September 11, 2008
Artists’ trading cards are displayed in a show at Space 237
This piece by Alison Parsons is one of several artists trading cards on display at Space 237 gallery. (THE BLADE/HERRAL LONG)
 VIEW: Artist trading cards
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By TAHREE LANE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Ellen Leonard doesn’t give away the award-winning art she crafts from exquisite fabrics and threads. After all, she may spend up to six months creating a wall-hanging she’ll sell for $1,000.
An exception is her pocket-sized artwork, made neither to be judged nor to attract a buyer, but to be an aesthetic adventure that will be traded for someone else’s mini-masterpiece.
“One of the good things about trading cards is they give an artist the chance to explore new techniques, when they may not want to spend the money to develop a new medium,” says Leonard, whose fabric cards are mounted on stiff interfacing.
She’s one of 25 whose 2 ½-by-3½-inch artist trading cards are displayed at Space 237 gallery. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., she’ll select 10 of her favorites from the collection, and other artists will take hers. “It’s a great way to own a little bit of art from several artists.” The downtown exhibit, for which artists were invited to submit 10 cards each, concludes with the round-robin selection.
Cards are made from paper, metal, ceramic, wood, beads, buttons, and collage. They’re printed, painted, penciled, scissored, and glued, with text and without. Some are digitally generated, some from school of scrapbooking. They’re abstract, Impressionist, realistic, surrealistic.
Two rules govern this genre: their uniform size and an insistence that cards be traded, not sold.
Leonard made tiny pastel quilts bound tightly at the edges with thread. She also monoprinted a large piece of fabric with acrylic paint, then cut out the portions she liked best. For another card, she dyed loose silk fibers (raw, straight from the silkworm) orange and green, laid individual threads in a grid pattern, and made two card-sized pieces, gluing them together with a spacer at the top for a dimensional effect.
“I did them because they’re kind of addictive. They are just so much fun to experiment with,” she says. “They’re satisfying because they don’t require a lot of time and you end up with a sweet little piece of art.”
Indeed, artists are often inspired and surprised by the results.
The concept of artist trading cards debuted in 1996 when a man in Zurich, Switzerland made and displayed more than 1,000 cards, offering to swap but refusing to sell. The idea quickly caught on in Canada, Germany, Holland, and eventually the American Midwest. Some artists ship 10 or 20 cards to international online groups, and receive cards by as many artists. Several cities have monthly card swaps.
Artists can make unique cards or small, numbered editions. Rather than shrinking a larger piece to size, they usually try to think in the small scale. Added to the back, which might be a playing card, is their name and contact information. An inherent benefit is meeting the card maker, ideally in person, with whom one trades.
“It’s a networking event for artists to discuss their techniques. Artists so often work in a vacuum,” says Leonard.
Myela Slattery’s batch has a war theme. “Mr. Bush, we need your explanation again. Why did you send our sons to Iraq?” reads one.
She cut and overlapped photographs of people from war-torn areas and added her own embellishments. She cut and lifted portions to add dimension.
“It’s something I would never have tried on a larger scale. Now, I’m considering doing it,” says Slattery, a mixed-media artist who, like Leonard, works as an exhibition coordinator at the four-story, 19th-century Space 237 building. “I think sometimes, as an artist, we get hung up on bigger pieces.”
Allison Parsons, a student at Bowling Green State University, put ink and acrylic on 2½-by-3½-inch pieces of particle plywood board.
“I came across artist trading cards two years ago while visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. I paid a dollar for a token and obtained an original piece of artwork from a vintage cigarette vending machine filled with ATC’s,” Parsons wrote in an e-mail. Her theme is metamorphosis.
“I am an avid gallery visitor but rarely am I able to meet the artist or put a face with their pieces. For me, this is a great way to expand my network with other local artists.”
Linda Sattler’s series is inspired by the imagery in British Columbian artist Nick Bantock’s Griffin and Sabine books.
“I always seem to work in series so I found this medium was an easy way to express myself. You don’t need a lot of supplies, and messages can be serious or whimsical. Once I got started, I realized the possibilities are endless, and I look forward to making and trading more cards in the future,” Sattler wrote in an e-mail.
Card collectors often keep them in albums tucked in nine-pocket sleeves (like baseball cards), framed individually or in groups, or in narrow boxes for easy handling.
The display of artist trading cards continues through tomorrow at Space 237, 237 North Michigan St. Cards will be exchanged tomorrow, with doors opening at 7 p.m. and the round-robin exchange beginning at 8 p.m. The public is invited to observe. Information: 419-255-5117.
Contact Tahree Lane at: tlane@theblade.com or 419-724-6075.
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