ACEOs and ATCs, with Guest Curator Cloudery

Curator Beatrice’s note: a reader last week pointed me in the direction of this fabulous find:

This is such a brilliant idea that I was shocked I haven’t seen anything like it before: a limited edition ACEO desktop calendar, complete with plastic stand and 13 months of calendar cards. Each card features different pen and ink drawings from Cloudery in various colors. This quickly inspired an exhibit dedicated to ACEOs, but I had to admit I knew very little about them and had only encountered the term since becoming an Etsy stalker. I asked the artist behind Cloudery to guest curate the exhibit and give us all a little background on these fantastic miniature collector’s pieces.

ACEOs & ATCs, with Guest Curator Cloudery

If you’ve browsed the art on Etsy (and even if you haven’t) you’ve likely seen pieces called ACEOs or ATCs. “ACEO” stands for “Art Cards, Editions and Originals,” and “ATC” stands for “Artist(s) Trading Cards.” The only “rule” for these cards is that they must be 2.5 x 3.5 inches (6 x 9 cm) — the size of a contemporary baseball card or playing card. Other than that, pretty much anything goes.

According to Wikipedia, “M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996, holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. This resurgence of interest of Artists trading cards has spawned the popular ACEO (art cards, editions and originals) movement.”

While the two terms are often used together, or interchangeably, the intrinsic difference is that ATCs are meant to be traded, in person-to-person swaps or through the mail, often internationally, with no money exchanged. With the advent of crafting sites such as Etsy, the following examples are more correctly called ACEOs, since they are bought and sold. Because of the small size and the ease of shipment, ACEOs are generally very affordable, and a unique way to collect art in all sorts of media from all sorts of artists. Some people store them like baseball card collections, in multi-card sleeves in binders. Others keep them in photo albums, or in special scrapbooks or boxes. They can be framed, displayed on small easels or stands, or made into magnets.

As you’ll see from the examples below, these small works truly run the spectrum of art and craft. Originals may be created from traditional techniques (painting, printmaking, illustration, photography), and crafted from more unusual materials like leather, marble, fabric & fiber, mixed-media collage, and clay. Many are “OOAK” (one of a kind); others are limited or open editions — either utilising printmaking techniques to create a limited edition (linocut, etching, gocco); or they’re reproductions of works of art, photographs, and digital art. Growing in popularity, and partly influenced by the current economy, many artists on Etsy are choosing to make reproductions of their larger original works in ACEO-sizes — thus making their art available to the widest possible audience.

For more examples look to this Etsy search category, the ACEO Flickr group, or the ATC Flickr group.

Some of my personal favorites from Etsy:

MaryL Clay Painting created this OOAK (One of a Kind) ACEO out of Polymer Clay, dispelling the notion that artist trading cards are only paper based.

This hand-engraved black marble ACEO is titled “Long Hair, Long Stare.” By Nimbus Novem:

Another OOAK, “Seashore 18” by hmsdesign is a mixed-media ACEO including driftwood, paper, paint, silk, and beads.

“Gregor” by Nancy Ryan is an original OOAK  two-color etching.

“Arab in Umber” is a lovely original watercolor and prismacolor by De La Renaissance:

The Cycling Artist paints ACEO-sized originals out of acrylics, with titles such as “Green Splashing Waves.”

Equally intriguing is this series of map collages by Selflesh. Each is an original, OOAK mixed media collage including maps and thread.

“Napoleon Calavera” is a limited edition gocco serigraph by Mis Nopales Art:

“Blue” is a stunning limited edition photograph by Sounds Like Rain.

Rosie Music‘s “Shy Boy Shy Girl No. 2″ is a limited edition of a drawing reproduced on wood.

This open edition reproduction of digitally collaged vintage images by CafeBaudelaire is titled “Chateau Versailles 2.” Fabulous.