Jeff Koons to Argentina

I was recently approached for a direct swap with a girl from Argentina, she is an art student and interested in swapping artists postcards. Of course this is totally up my street!

I have had this Jeff Koons postcard for a while now. I don’t just send my artist postcards to anyone, it has to be to someone I know will appreciate it. I really enjoy the playfully kitsch nature of Koons’ work, and was excited to send it to my new pen pal across the Atlantic. I can’t wait to receive her postcard to me!

Jeff Koons (1955-)

Koons is an American artist who’s work encapsulates popular culture, and creates reproductions of banal objects, most famously his oversized stainless steel balloon animals. His work has broken records for the largest price sold at auction by a living artist, with Koon’s Balloon Dog (Orange) selling for $58m.4. Koons states that is work contains no hidden meanings, and is often critiqued for being kitsch, but it is this quality that draws many, like my self to enjoy his work.

An Oldie from Germany

Today I received a great postcard from Germany, I love vintage photographs and postcards, and this one is gorgeous.

After some research I discovered that the photograph is of German actress Grethe Weiser (February 27, 1903 – October 2, 1970). She started her career in the 1920s cabaret scene in Berlin, and went on to appear in around 30 movies.

Interestingly, Grethe spent her childhood in Dresden, and coincidently the stamp on this postcard displays the Dresden Elbpanorama. What a fantastic stamp! I love ones with  non-standard dimensions.

A Martin Parr-esque Beach Scence from Germany

There is something very Martin Parr about this postcard from Haan in Germany, illustrating a beach scene in Dahme, off the Baltic Sea.

It reminds me somewhat of the great British holiday, with the huts, though we would be lucky to see such fantastic blue skies. It is the bold, high-contrast colours combined with the kitsch nature of this postcard that makes me thing of Martin Parr, a British photographer known for photographing scenes from the everyday.

Martin Parr, ‘Mar del Plata’ 2014. http://www.martinparr.com/2014/mar-del-plata/

This photograph is from Parr’s Mar del Plata series. The resort is located in Argentina and is vast, the 16km of beach attracts over 7 million visitors a year, and is lined by 2000 hotels. The high contrast colours are also evident here, and the busyness of the beach is much like the Dahme postcard, except on acid.

Unfortunately the photographer and date of the postcard is unknown, and not printed on the postcard, and doesn’t bring up any matching photographs when searched by image on Google.