Kingsgate Postal Service
n 2020, we received generous funding from the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund to run a socially distant programme. As part of this, we ran a new mail art initiative: Kingsgate Postal Service (KPS).
About KPS
KPS delivered artists’ editions and new writing directly to subscribers' doors.
Subscribers received new editions and writing by emerging and established artists and authors. From woodblock prints and temporary tattoos; to poems and recipes - each envelope contained a carefully selected pair of specially commissioned quasi-complimentary works.
Artists and writers include: Cyrus Shroff, Joshua Sex, Sarah Boulton, Victoria Adam, Angus McCrum, Elaine Tam, Nina Royle, Maria Christoforidou, Irenosen Okojie, Jasmine Padjak, 4659, 650mah, Luke Burton, CAConrad, Yorgos Petrou, Nabihah Iqbal, Lara Shahnavaz, Camilla Grudova, Klara Vith, Paul Wardski, Tamar Halpern, Ella Duffy, Francesca Blomfield, Lillian Wilkie.
KPS celebrates the subscription club and the thrill of getting something through the post.
KPS is odd, playful and generous.
KPS is like a hurriedly scribbled holiday postcard from a friend...a missive of love in spite of its smudgy ink blots.
KPS is not precious, but contains precious things.
KPS is an analogue network for distributing digital thoughts.
KPS shares ideas and peculiarities with equal verve.
KPS is the place where one envelope contains works by an award winning novelist and a recent RCA graduate, and the next contains works by a Japanese collective and a curatorial project based in a Brighton vape shop.
KPS is like finding a package on the doormat addressed in a handwriting that is familiar, but you can’t quite remember whose it is…
KPS is a burgeoning art collection that fits in a jiffy bag!
First edition of KPS | Cyrus Shroff & Joshua Sex
We are excited to launch our first edition of KPS Droplets by Cyrus Shroff and Joshua Sex.
Cyrus Shroff (b. 1988, Bombay) graduated with an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2013. Recent exhibitions include: Six Characters in Search of a Host at the Architectural Association, 2019; Creekside Open by Sacha Craddock at APT Gallery, 2019; Inside Job at Tate Modern, 2018; Rope & Co at Westminster Waste, 2016 and Things on Things at AMP Gallery, 2016. Cyrus had been awarded the Land Securities Studio Award (2013), the David Villers Travel Bursary (2013) and the Chelsea Arts Club Graduate Award (2013).
Joshua Sex (1985, Dublin) studied painting at the Royal College of Art in London. He lives in Ireland, works as a carpenter and, for pleasure, writes stories and plays music on the mouth organ. In the past he helped run the project space Westminster Waste (now he’s involved in another project space: Fál Linntreog).
Second edition of KPS | Sarah Boulton & Victoria Adam
Our second edition of KPS is Via by Sarah Boulton & Tree Identification by Victoria Adam.
Sarah Boulton's piece 'Via!' can be considered as editions of a performance that Boulton made last year in an Abbey where she accompanied a monk to turn off the lights, one by one, around the building at the end of the day. These editions took a diversion to the Abbey in the post before making their way to your door.
Sarah Boulton (b.1989) has presented artworks at Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge; Cell Project Space, London; Rhubaba Gallery, Edinburgh and Patara Gallery, Tbilisi. She is currently working on a piece for an immaterial art biennale in France – La Biennale Momon. Her writings have appeared in Tender Journal, Danarti and in the 2015 Best British Poetry Anthology, and her first collection of texts has recently been published with Care of Time.
Victoria Adam graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in 2015 and previously attended the Slade. Recent solo exhibitions include; confidences, Seventeen, London (2019), orchardwhitelightning*, LUNGLEY, London (2018), the common toad, Temporary Gallery, Cologne, Germany (2017), and middens ❧, Kingsgate Project Space, London (2015). Recent group shows include All that the Rain Promises and more, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh (2019), The romance of flowers, Kingsgate Project Space, London (2018) and Becoming Plant, Tenderpixel, London (2018).
Third edition of KPS | Nina Royle & Maria Christoforidou
The third issue of KPS is sharp whispers by Nina Royle and Maria Christoforidou.
Nina Royle graduated with an MA from Slade School of Art in 2016. She lives and works in Cornwall. Recent solo exhibitions include Tending My Fangs, ALPS, London (2019); St Ia, The Picture Room, Newlyn Art Gallery (2019) and Glaucous, a performance commissioned by Tate St Ives (2018). Group exhibitions include Unbounded, Eden Project, Cornwall (2019); Listen to the Hum, Alice Black Gallery, London (2019); Lunar Gardening, Kingsgate Project Space, London (2019); Global Cows, (with Charlott Weise, Lucy Stein, Tizianna La Melia, Vanessa Disler) Damien and the Love Guru, Brussels (2019); and Crying the Neck (with Lucy Stein), NICC, Brussels (2017). In 2019 Nina was commissioned by Hospital Rooms to create a wall painting for The Junipers MBU ward, Exeter.
Maria Christoforidou is an Afro-Greek artist, writer and researcher. Her practice explores the political, physical and performative operations of words and images. She is motivated by a hope to create pauses that allow minor stories of sameness, voices, bodies and plant comrades to evade classification, come to rest, undoing unspeakable knots of otherness. She is an art history lecturer at Falmouth University and lives in Cornwall and Athens.
Fourth edition of KPS | Angus McCrum & Elaine Tam
The fourth issue of KPS is Untitled (12 False Starts) by Angus McCrum & Elaine Tam.
Angus McCrum (b. 1987, Portsmouth) lives and works in Berlin. He graduated in 2015 with an MA in Printmaking from Camberwell College of Art, having previously studied and The Kent Institute of Art & Design. Recent solo/two person exhibitions include: Bleigießen, 17 Addington Road, Margate, 2019; Fallow (with Emii Alrai), The Rectory Projects, London, 2019; Studio 2 (with Jon Kipps), Assembly Point Studios, London, 2019; and The Sorrows, Intercession Gallery, Northampton, 2017. Recent group shows include: Of Noise, Slow Space, Fieldworks, London, 2020; Used For Glue, Assembly Point Studios, London, 2019; Odds, TOMA Project Space, Southend-on-Sea, 2019; How small a thought, hosted by Anne Ryan & Andrew Child, Margate, 2019; The Feeling’s Mutual - Art Licks Weekend 2019, The Rectory Projects, London, 2019; Lunar Gardening, Kingsgate Project Space, London, 2019; Gobbledygook, The Kennington Residency, London, 2019; and EveryThing Must Go, Assembly Point, London, 2019.
Elaine Tam is a writer and curator who works collaboratively with artists to create forums for critical engagement through exhibitions, talks and writing. But moreover, she understands this practice as a shared site for interdisciplinary play, pleasure, gesture, enquiry, even failure. Her research interests include poetic perversion, regimes of femininity and encounters with radical Otherness.
Fifth edition of KPS | Jasmine Pajdak & Irenosen Okojie
The fifth issue of KPS is Venus, Low Crawling, Pink Blade, Flood, Bite, Rescue by Jasmine Pajdak & Irenosen Okojie.
Editions by Jasmine Pajdak and Scribblings by Irensosen Okojie.
Jasmine Pajdak graduated with an MA in Print from the Royal College of Art in 2019 and previously studied at the Royal Drawing School and Falmouth University.
Recent solo exhibitions include Sweet Nowheres, Little Gallery, Calgary, Canada (2018). Group exhibitions include: And in me too the wave rises, Lewisham Art House, London (2019); What a Relief!?, CGP Gallery, London (2019); Becoming and Dissolving, Alice Black Gallery, London (2017); and Lexis over Land, Tremenheere Sculpture Garden, Cornwall (2017).
Irenosen Okojie was born in Nigeria and moved to England aged eight. She studied Communications and Visual Culture at London Metropolitan University. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Observer, The Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. Her short stories have been published internationally. Her debut novel, Butterfly Fish, published by Jacaranda Books won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Edinburgh First Book Award. Her short story collection, Speak Gigantular was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. Irenosen was the first Writer in Residence for Words of Colour.
Curatorial projects include Black Joy for the BBC, Maverick Women and The Moon featuring Margaret Atwood and The Moon As Muse film talks and screenings for Moon Festival. She is a fellow of The Royal Society of Literature. Her next two books, Nudibranch and Curandera have been signed by Little Brown’s Dialogue Books.
Sixth edition of KPS | Yorgos Petrou & Nabihah Iqbal
The sixth issue of KPS is Arpalik III by Yorgos Petrou & Heat is Heavy Palms are High by Nabihah Iqbal
Yorgos Petrou is a London based Cypriot British artist. He works with photography, sculpture, moving image and performance. Recent exhibitions include: I take of places, Kupfer Project Space, London, (This) precious stone set in the silver sea, Copperfield London, UK (both 2020); Occupy and Echo (a stage), Reading Room, Melbourne, Australia (2019); A Real Job is to Make Something, AIR, London, A Million Love Songs, Korai Project Space, Cyprus (both 2018). In 2019, his piece Unfamiliar was performed at the Barbican Centre, Arcola Theatre, and Battersea Arts Centre, London.
Nabihah Iqbal is a musician, producer, DJ and broadcaster from London. Her debut album, ‘Weighing of the Heart’, was released via Ninja Tune in December 2017 and has since garnered huge critical acclaim from the likes of The Guardian, Pitchfork, Dazed, The Observer, Q Magazine, BBC Radio 1 and 6Music. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Somerset House, where she is writing and recording her second album. Aside from working on her own music, Nabihah has hosted a bi-weekly show on NTS Radio for over 7 years now, exploring musical traditions and cultures without boundaries. Nabihah also presents shows on BBC Asian Network and BBC Radio 1.
Just before the lockdown earlier this year, Nabihah had to take an emergency trip out to Pakistan to visit her grandad who became seriously ill. She planned to be out there for 2 weeks but a strict lockdown stopped all transport in and out of the country, and she ended up being there for 2 months before she could get home to London. Whilst there, Nabihah created a series of videos via Instagram called 'Lockdown Herbalist', in which she used her time in lockdown in Pakistan to learn about plants and herbal remedies from her grandparents.
Seventh edition of KPS | 650mAh & 4649
The seventh issue of KPS is Sticker Pack by 650mAh & 4649
650mAh (f. 2017) is a curatorial project run by Ella Fleck & Tabitha Steinberg. Founded inside MIST Vape Shop in Hove, 650mAh challenges traditional gallery models by settling itself within a pre-existing business. 650mAh has exhibited artists including Delia Gonzalez, Naotaka Hiro, Dalibor Martinis and Tenant of Culture. 650mAh has guest curated exhibitions and projects in spaces such as Arcade (London), BQ (Berlin), Haus N (Athens) and Paris Internationale (Paris). 650mAh has an upcoming guest curated exhibition at Kingsgate Project Space in 2021.
4649 (f. 2018) is a curatorial project and gallery in Sugamo, Tokyo run by artists Yuhei Kobayashi, Shogo Shimizu and Yuu Takamizawa. 4649’s on-site programme focuses on exhibitions with emerging, international artists to introduce their work to the Tokyo art scene. 4649 also participates in off-site projects, exhibiting Tokyo-based artists internationally. Recent exhibitions include 'Contrastissimo' (2020), Pina Vienna (2020), Ella Fleck and Tabitha Steinberg (2020), Alex Dolan and Jasper Spicero (2019), MX Gallery (2019), presentations at NADA Miami Project Booth (2019, 2018) and more.
Eighth edition of KPS | Luke Burton & CAConrad
The eighth issue of KPS is Moon Pennies by Luke Burton & 3 Moon Penny (Soma)tic Poetry Rituals by CAConrad
Luke Burton (b. 1983, London) studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design, BA, London (2002 – 2005) and MA at the Royal College of Art, London (2011-2013). Recent exhibitions include: Impossible Weather, Bosse & Baum, London (2020); Podium Sales, Picnic Gallery, London (2019); CAMEO, A-dash, Athens (2019); Out of Office, PADA, Lisbon (2019); Outlines Roughly the Size of a Suit, with Victor Seaward, Union Gallery, London (2019); P is for Portrait, Pitt Studio, Worcester Art Centre (2019); Paper Cuts, curated by Kristian Day, Saatchi Gallery, London (2018); The Lotus Eaters, Aindrea Contemporary, London (2018); Becoming Sweet New Styles Bosse & Baum, London (2018); Sweep / Landskip, Kinokino Kunstal, Stavanger, Norway (2018); Granpalazzo, Ariccia, Rome (2017); Print Department, Division of Labour, London (2017); Waves, Turf Projects, London (2017); Luke Burton is currently Artist-in-Residence as a Visiting Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge where he will have a solo exhibition in 2021.
CAConrad is the author of the forthcoming book Amanda Paradise (Wave Books, 2021). Their book While Standing in Line for Death won a 2018 Lambda Book Award. They also received a 2019 Creative Capital grant and a Pew Arts and Heritage Foundation Fellowship, the Believer Magazine Book Award, and the Gil Ott Book Award. They regularly teach at Columbia University in New York City and Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam. Please view their books, essays, recordings, and the documentary The Book of Conrad (Delinquent Films) online at bit.ly/88CAConrad
Online event: Moon Penny and (Soma)tic Rituals - A Conversation with CAConrad and Luke Burton
On Thursday 10 December 2020, Luke Burton & CAConrad chatted with Dan Howard-Birt about their KPS edition.
To watch a recording of the event, click here.
Ninth edition of KPS | Lara Shahnavaz & Camilla Grudova
The ninth issue of KPS is Unstitching by Camilla Grudova and Untitled by Lara Shahnavaz
Lara Shahnavaz is a London based Turkish artist. She graduated with a BFA from Ruskin School of Art in 2016 and an MFA from Slade School of Fine Art in 2019. Recent exhibitions include group show New Ruins at Soft Opening in 2019.
Camilla Grudova lives in Edinburgh. She holds a degree in Art History and German from McGill University, Montreal. Her fiction has appeared in The White Review and Granta.
Tenth edition of KPS | Klara Vith & Paul Wardski
The tenth issue of KPS is What goes in stays in, Inexplicable squiggly lines & Filling every available corner with as much as possible by Klara Vith & Paul Wardski
Klara Vith is an Austrian artist currently based in London. She graduated with an MA in Book Arts from Camberwell College of Arts in 2018. Recent exhibitions include: Reverting To Type 2 (2020), Standpoint Gallery, London; False Friends (2020), The Function Suite, London; Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2019 (2019-2020), South London Gallery & Leeds Art Gallery; Edition Residencies: Now Look For a Marshmallow Under A Rock (2019), APT Gallery, London; Algorithmic Superstructures (2018), IMPAKT Festival, Utrecht, NL. Klara is Co-founder of Edition Residencies, a migratory residency project formed in 2017 together with Caitlin Akers, Nora Schmel and Lena Wurz, connected by London but currently living and working in different cities.
Paul Wardski is an artist born and residing in London. He graduated with an MA in Printmaking from Camberwell College of Arts. Recent exhibitions include: Reverting To Type 2 (2020), Standpoint Gallery London; Crossover (2019), The Auction Collective, Candid Arts Angel, London; Clifford Chance Award (2018), Clifford Chance, London; Windows (2018) & Flock (2018), both GX Gallery, London; Intermission (2017), Standpoint Gallery, London. He has received numerous awards including Clifford Chance Postgraduate Printmaking Award, Limerick Printmakers Residency, Bartolomeu Dos Santos Residency and East London Printmakers as well as Bainbridge studio awards.
In 2020, Klara and Paul formed the collaborative p_e_a_k_a_y_.
Eleventh edition of KPS | Tamar Halpern & Ella Duffy
The eleventh issue of KPS is Light Takes A Walk by Tamar Halpern & Ella Duffy
Tamar Siegfried Rosa Halpern received an MFA from Columbia University in 2005 and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Tamar Halpern’s recent solo exhibitions include Journal Gallery, NY (2019 ); Mier Gallery,LA (2016); On Stellar Rays,NY (2015); Office Baroque, Antwerp, Belgium (2013/2012); Triple V, Paris, France (2013); Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, Portugal (2012); Egeran Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey (2012); D’Amelio Terras, New York, NY (2011). Group exhibitions include Koenig & Clinton, New York, NY (2014); Elizabeth Dee, New York, NY (2013); Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY (2013); White Columns, New York, NY (2013/2010/2009/2008); Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel (2010); Greater New York, MoMA/PS1, Queens, NY (2010); The Knight’s Move, curated by Fionn Meade, Sculpture Center, Queens, NY (2010); Which Witch is Which?, curated by Ajay Kurian, White Flag, St. Louis, MO (2010); On Stellar Rays, New York, NY (2009). Notable collections include Marciano Collection.
Ella Duffy is a London-based poet, originally from Manchester. Her debut pamphlet, New Hunger, was published by Smith|Doorstop in May 2020. Her second pamphlet, Rootstalk, was published by Hazel Press in November 2020. Her work has appeared in Ambit, The Rialto and The North, among others. Ella was shortlisted for the 2020 Pat Kavanagh Prize and was the winner of the 2019 Live Canon International Poetry Competition. She was one of the winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award in 2010. Ella is the co-founder of bind, a platform for creative work examining environmental issues.
Twelfth edition of KPS | Francesca Blomfield & Lillian Wilkie
The twelfth issue of KPS is by Francesca Blomfield & Lillian Wilkie
Francesca Blomfield is an artist who lives and works in London. She recently completed her MA in painting from Royal College of Art, having graduated from her BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Daisies’ at 2x2x2 run by Imlabor, Tokyo (2020); ’War Hammer' (2017) at Barbican Arts Trust, London; 'International Treaty' (2015) at The Horse Hospital, London. Francesca has been involved in group exhibitions 'Chrome Villa, with Col Self' (2018) at Andor Gallery, London ,'Glass Houses’ (2020) at Mcbeans Orchids, Lewes; Multiverse (2019) at Gazelli Art House, London, and Autumn Yield (2019) at Bridget Riley Studios, London. In 2016 she won 1st prize in the Barbican Arts Group Trust open.
Lillian Wilkie is a writer, editor, publisher and lecturer based in London. She runs Chateau International an imprint producing books, zines and editions in collaboration with artists, writers, educators and project spaces. She is co-organiser of Bound Art Book Fair, a major annual publishing event focusing on regional photographic practices and activism in the form of publishing. In 2020 she co-organised HYPERTEXT, a virtual art book fair in partnership with Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool. She has written on photography, arts and publishing for a range of titles including Modern Matter, Elephant Magazine and C4 Journal. In 2017 her book The Origin of Springs was published by Tenderbooks.