Jean-Louis LAURAIN
Postal Art and Stamp Artists
What is Postal Art?
Postal Art (or e-mail art) has developped considerably over the last few years through different means such as exhibitions (at the museum de la Porte de Paris amongst others) and the publication of articles in a number of 
newspapers. An art review such as that in the respected Beaux Arts magazine which has for several years had a section inviting its readers to send in decorated letters or postcards, the most original and creative of which being shown each month in its letters' section.
Do not underestimate this art form as something practiced by amateurs on enveloppes, because famous artists such as Picasso, Prévert obviously, and of course Tinguely or Satie have also contributed from time to time to this art in its many forms.
If we attempt to define this, we would say that postal art encompasses everything artistic along the path of the postal system which is indispensible to its operation ( decorated enveloppes but also rubber stamps, postage stamps, the whole network of correspondence).
Because it is like this, I have obliged myself to create my true/false stamps so that they are not only posted and obliterated, but also, if the postal services discovered someone was trying to cheat the system (fortunately rarely) I destroy the stamp in question.
It is only on condition of awarded credibility and willingness to eliminate such stamps that an artist has the right to be nominated as actively working in the area of postal art. The stamp has a strict code of shape and function. Even the artists takes liberties and distances himself from official postal products, in the best interests of his creation, he must always respect the code in realtion to the size, perforations, value and of course it's origin.
Artist's stamps are original creations, printed or painted.