Accession Number
1981/1.310

Title
Doo Da Post (stamped and cancelled manilla envelope)

Artist(s)
Edward F. Higgins

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1980

Medium & Support
mixed media on paper

Dimensions
9 1/16 in x 12 in (23 cm x 30.5 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
Higgins received his MFA in painting and printmaking in 1976. He collected stamps as a child, and began making stamps and postcards in the mid 1970s. The refrain "Doo Da" in "Doo Da Post" is borrowed from the song Camp Town Ladies or Zippety Doo Da; Higgins uses a winged-nut as his logo. Seattle stamp-maker Carl T. Chew provided guidance at the beginning of Higgins' career. Stamp art is largely rooted in communication and stamp artists often send their work to fellow stamp artists.

Physical Description
This work is a sealed manilla envelope covered in various artist-made postage and printed stamps. Printed on the envelope are the following phrases and items: "STAMP ART", "FIRST DAY OF ISSUE", "DOO-DA POST JUL 24 1980 N.Y. BRANCH", "DOO-DA JUL 24 1980 CHICAGO", Chinese Characters, "ART MAIL COMMEMORATIVE", "DOO-DA POST- 153 LUDLOW, N.Y.C. NY 10000 USA", "MADE IN USA", a two-tailed siren and a winged-nut. The stamps include images of a portrait of a man in a hat, 3 stamps of the Statue of Liberty, a triangular stamp of corn kernels, the Greek god Hermes, Leonardo Da Vinci and a landscape with blue water, green hills, and a white plane overhead.

Primary Object Classification
Mixed Media

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Text-based Art
abstraction
envelopes
mail artists
modern and contemporary art
mythology (literary genre)
portraits
postage stamps
reproductions