Public Collectors is founded upon the concern that there are many types of cultural artifacts that public libraries, museums and other institutions and archives either do not collect or do not make freely accessible. Public Collectors asks individuals that have had the luxury to amass, organize, and inventory these materials to help reverse this lack by making their collections public.
This page consists of sample findings and excerpts. It is also an account of the contents of my home and digital files from my camera. If you have suggestions, have a collection you want to share, or are in Chicago and would like to see something in person, please contact me. This blog is intended as a casual, more personal supplement to the main Public Collectors website.
Public Collectors is maintained by Marc Fischer.
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Common tags: Book Cover Design • Chicago • Drawing • Flea Market • Flyers • Illustration • Prison • Records • Religious Tracts • Signage • Zines
I despise visits from Jehovah’s Witnesses and have at times resorted to shouting profanity at them when they knock on my door. I do secretly enjoy the illustrations in their magazines, however, and I get a little excited when they leave publications when I’m not home. Here’s an uncredited illustration from the May 2013 issue of Awake.
Another post to mark the birthday of a late friend, Matt Hanner.
Shortly after his completely unexpected death, I borrowed two boxes of Hanner’s ephemera and mailed art from Anthony Elms - a longtime friend of mine and a close friend of Matt’s. This drawing from 2004, mailed to Anthony, is one of many that was created by modifying a Wolfgang Laib postcard.
Matt Hanner had a Tumblr blog: http://matthanner.tumblr.com/. He updated it until one month before his death and it gives an expanded sense of the way he was in the world. More Matt Hanner material on Public Collectors here.
A photocopy of a drawing (circa 1990) by Jaime Sanchez. Sanchez was incarcerated in Arizona at the time that this was sent to me by a fellow prisoner from the same institution.
A photocopy of a 1990 drawing by Jaime Sanchez. Sanchez was incarcerated in Arizona at the time that this was sent to me by a fellow prisoner from the same institution.
A marker drawing of someone wearing a balaclava, spotted on the street in Budapest.
A 2003 colored pencil drawing on paper by Lamont E.A. Scanned from the exhibition catalog for Made In Prison: Contemporary Art by Incarcerated Men and Women, Co-curated by Julia Dzwonkoski and Kye Potter, 2003-2004, Herndon Gallery, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio.
An untitled, undated drawing by Welmon Sharlhorne, from the cover of the exhibition catalog for Made In Prison: Contemporary Art by Incarcerated Men and Women, Co-curated by Julia Dzwonkoski and Kye Potter, 2003-2004, Herndon Gallery, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Prison envelope art by Danny Davis, who was incarcerated in Gatesville, Texas when he sent me this letter in 1991.
Unsigned, undated ballpoint pen drawing (circa early 1990s) sent to me by an artist in prison. I believe this is by Kevin Fink, who was incarcerated in Walla Walla State Penitentiary in Washington.
A drawing by Paul R. Allison mailed to me in April 1993. At the time that he sent this, Paul was in prison in Amarillo, Texas.
A drawing by Paul R. Allison mailed to me in April 1993. At the time that he sent this, Paul was in prison in Amarillo, Texas.
Going to see Motörhead (or just a film about Lemmy) is always a good idea! Scanned from a 2011 photocopied and silk-screened zine titled Haunted House, sent to me by the Austin, Texas-based artist Annie Sollinger. Thank you, Annie!
This is part of a continuing series of posts about Matt Hanner who died one year ago today. I’m sharing various things he mailed over the years to his and my friend Anthony Elms.
One last post for now. This is a drawing tucked inside a translucent orange envelope. As with many things Matt sent or gave Anthony, it’s kind of unclear where the art is. Is the art just on the paper inside the envelope, or is the envelope part of the work? Or is it all in the gesture of giving the gift? These things are never really defined and I can’t say I’m particularly concerned about coming to any kind of resolution. I just wish Matt was still around to create these little mysteries.
This is part of a continuing series of posts about Matt Hanner who died one year ago today. I’m sharing various things he mailed over the years to his and my friend Anthony Elms.
This is a mailed postcard from 2004 with a drawing of a building. The same building appears, though colored differently, in at least one other postcard sent to Anthony.
When Matt and I saw each other we talked a lot about music. For this post I’m now listening to the album Moon Circles by Kay Gardner - a pretty folky album from 1975 with a lot of flute and acoustic guitar. I picked this up for cheap on a whim yesterday and am not sure what I think of it yet.
Scanned from Head Anatomy Pertinent to Dentistry and Dental Prosthesis, published by Wernet Division, Block Drug Company Inc., Jersey City, NJ, 1966.
