Workshop: Artist Trading Cards, Art&Seek

By A Mystery Man Writer

Last updated 29 May 2024

Workshop: Artist Trading Cards, Art&Seek

The collapse between high and low art, between art and business, between art only the rich can afford and art we can all take home, is a fact of postmodern life, the upcoming King Tut exhibit being debated on this blog just one example. I recently stumbled on the phenomenon of small, mass-produced "art" objects that you can buy in museum gift shops for as little as $6. Many of these "designer toys" are inspired by Japanese anime, graffiti and other "low" art forms. Artist trading cards are another way that art is getting to the masses while also serving as a kind of business card for the artists who produce them. For the recipients, these popularly priced or even free pieces of art may be a step up from Beanie Babies or railroad lanterns (which my stepfather collects). But, to invoke a pun, they're in the same ballpark. Modeled on the age-old collecting (and, of course, trading) of sports cards, artist trading cards are a very specific form with rules and conventions. They're supposed