DM (Direct Mail)
In 2019, too, I received a great many DMs.
DM: abbreviation for Direct Mail, the announcement medium used for exhibitions.
Last year I first compiled the article “DM of the Year 2018”, and to my surprise the response was substantial, so I decided to write it this year as well. This article is an award given to DMs whose distinctive presence surpasses their function as mere announcement tools — a feature introducing the wonderful DMs I encountered in 2019.
Over the course of a year, I stored the DMs that caught my eye in a dedicated box, and just now selected ten.
*This is a project shaped by the arbitrary preferences of this site’s editor-in-chief, so please forgive any objections or complaints.
For sending DMs to our site, please inquire here.
Best 10 DMs of 2019
Here I would like to take up ten distinctive DMs that came into my hands from exhibitions held in 2019 (in no particular order).
1) Naomi Okubo & Lulu Meng
The DM for the two-person exhibition “Real Fairy Tale” by Naomi Okubo and Lulu Meng.
The DM directly translates the exhibition’s theme of “mirrors” onto its own surface.
So smooth that fingerprints seem to appear just from touching it.
2) Arisa Kumagai
A DM created by directly cutting out a section of the major work Single bed — the same size as a single bed — which also gave the solo exhibition its title.
The exhibition was wonderful, and sales, too, are said to have gone very well.
A DM using the design of the work Single bed as is.
3) Teppei Takeda
The moment I picked up Teppei Takeda’s DM and saw his works at the gallery, I felt as though I was looking at a trompe l’oeil. The DM’s thickly-painted appearance was superbly betrayed by the difference from the actual work — captivating and fooling the viewer at once.
4) “WAVE 2019” 3331 Arts Chiyoda
The size, the thickness, the printing — this DM has costly elements in every dimension.
Whoever designed it — nice work!
5) Sosuke Ueta
TAKU SOMETANI GALLERY, which always sends inventive DMs.
The DM for Sosuke Ueta’s solo exhibition “(whereabouts of the) ANIMA” is, remarkably, a DM that toys with the eye using a lenticular lens.
6) Alfredo Jaar
The DM for Alfredo Jaar’s solo exhibition “Lament of the Images” is of a quality you could frame and display as is. Beautifully printed on heavy paper. Well done as always, SCAI!
Posters were also being given out for free at the venue.
7) Ayaka Yamamoto
The DM for Ayaka Yamamoto’s solo exhibition “organ” is personally my favorite.
The design converts imagery from her video work into monochrome for the DM.
Square and thick, with a design in which Yamamoto’s world seems to live on directly. Beautiful.
I kept it displayed in my room for some time. Thank you.
8) Chul-Hyun Ahn
On view at the booth of cosmetics brand “La Prairie” at Art Basel Hong Kong 2019 was Chul-Hyun Ahn, a Korean artist known for works that harness light, color, reflection, and optical illusion.
Though it was a sponsor tie-in, the DM itself is as lavish as the works.
9) Narumi Sasaki
The DM for Narumi Sasaki’s exhibition held at LOKO GALLERY looks simple at first glance, but it artfully folds the solo show’s title together with the artwork into a single design. Achieving this kind of sensibility is, I think, no easy task.
10) Flyer of me[mé]
The last isn’t a DM, but I really wanted to include it — an honorable-mention entry.
I chose the flyer for me[mé]’s exhibition.
The front and back of this flyer show through each other, so you can enjoy it from both sides.
True to the exhibition’s concept, it is a “somehow undecipherable” flyer.
In closing
DMs that artists and galleries have thought through carefully do more than simply convey information — I believe they also carry a lasting appeal to be enjoyed after the exhibition ends, giving them a collectible quality.
Looking at a finished solo-show’s DM, the installation view of the venue sometimes comes back to mind. It is fun to mount them in a simple photo frame, and equally enjoyable to simply stick them on the wall with putty tack.
In 2020 many exhibitions will surely be held, and countless DMs will make their way into the world.
I look forward to a great many wonderful, surprising DMs next year as well.
