Art Paper Invitations

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Stephen Shore invitation for Common Places
Stephen Shore invitation for Common Places

Art Paper Invitations, featured on AnOther’s Reader, acts as a platform to showcase paper invitations to art shows, events and exhibitions around the world. Curated by artist and photographer Osvaldo Sanviti, an Italian from Florence, the blog is an

Art Paper Invitations, featured on AnOther’s Reader, acts as a platform to showcase paper invitations to art shows, events and exhibitions around the world. Curated by artist and photographer Osvaldo Sanviti, an Italian from Florence, the blog is an exploration of a facet of the visual arts world that is often overlooked; the invitations on this blog are afforded a scrutiny and appreciation normally reserved for the works which they advertise. We spoke to him about his idea of a perfect invitation…

What prompted you to start the blog?
I've always collected paper invitations for art exhibitions because I think they are a little piece of art, even if they are multiples – maybe I love them because of this. I love works on paper and there is no difference, for me, between an original piece which I can't afford, and a good reproduction. I often frame some of my favourite paper invitations and now they’re living on my walls. So I thought I should make an archive on the internet, to give a virtual life to something made of paper. I started the blog in August 2008 and by November 2008 I already had about 50 galleries sending me their paper invitations.

How do you source the invitations?
I write emails to some international galleries with the best artists around – established and young galleries. Some of these galleries send me their paper invitations by mail (I post physical invitations only). I post them all on the blog, I make no selection. The only problem about this project is that only a few galleries make paper invitations these days.

What would you say is the purpose of the blog? It can be used as a place to appreciate invitation design, as well as a place to find out about shows…
My site is more about a little archive of today's art, about some works on paper living a new life on the internet, available for everyone.

What makes a great art invitation?
A great artwork. And I love poster-sized invitations.

Does it always have to mirror the work on show?
Sure. I don't like art invitations that seem like business cards, even if they are considered cool or made by a great designer.

What is your favourite invitation?
It is from an exhibition of Astrid Klein at Sprueth Magers Berlin last September/October. It’s a big invitation, poster-size, and the artwork is not disturbed by text or graphic. The art work is not cropped. I like these collages made of textual and pictorial material. This creates a context, in which new meanings are revealed.

Text by Laura Havlin