Non-profit arts organization TRANS> is pleased to launch THESE TIMES, a print and digital stamp project with contributions by 50 artists and 50 institutions. Curated by TRANS> founder Sandra Antelo-Suarez, the project is in response to the global pandemic and follows a call to artists to create artworks formatted in the design of postage stamps as a gesture that unites communities across New York City, Ibero-America, Spain, and Portugal. The 50 submitted stamp artworks from THESE TIMES will be distributed in the October 2020 issue of frieze magazine, bringing art directly into homes, and posted digitally on the THESE TIMES Instagram account @these.times.forever.
“I saw the devastation in New York and across Ibero-America, especially the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on our culture and artistic communities, and wanted to find a way to bring artists and thinkers together to create a space for grief, but also for hope and action,” says THESE TIMES curator Sandra Antelo-Suarez.
THESE TIMES acts as a tribute and gesture of love, grief, and solidarity for the lives lost to COVID-19 and those facing difficulty in the current times. The stamps, marked with a symbolic currency of love, function as individual stickers that encourage poetic gestures of communication, especially crucial in this global moment that has deeply affected our communities. At its core, the format of a stamp evokes the connection found through sending letters. Beyond exploring this sense of interconnectedness, this project presciently underscores the link between voting through mail as a form of direct action, self-expression, and self-determination. To invite further collaboration, TRANS> invites everyone to submit their own designs on social media with the hashtag #TheseTimesForver and by visiting transmag.org
Each stamp artwork created for THESE TIMES features an original design with the name of the artist, the art institution or gallery where the artist currently has or had an exhibition, and the country. The 1.3 x 1.3 inch stamps include text in Spanish, English, and Portuguese.
OUR CIVIC DUTY TO VOTE IS ONE OF THE POWERS WE HOLD TO END INEQUALITIES AND INJUSTICES IN THE WORLD
