Phantom Stamps was a collaborative project imagined by Stanley Gibbons, to bring the world of stamp collecting to a brand new audience. Nic Gilbert and Jack Vile from our Hampshire publishing team worked with 5 incredible artists to take the format of traditional postage stamps (and, more specifically, miniature sheets) to create works of modern art.
WHAT IS A MINI SHEET?
A miniature sheet is a single postage stamp or small group of postage stamps that is still attached to the sheet it was printed on. The stamps contained within these sheets are often perforated and can be torn out or have simulated perforations and a self-adhesive backing.
Mostly known as just Petty…Half Irish, half English, London-born and London-based self taught artist. No pretences, no airs and certainly no graces. Addicted to the visual with a staunch creative curiosity, easy-going and down-to-earth attitude.
Specialising in reverse Hand-pulled screen prints onto glass, gold gilding with hand painting & hand applied Diamond dust/gold leaf featuring heavily.
Steeped in contemporary pop art and saturated by the culture we live in, Always work-in-progress.
Born into a family of Cornish pirates and smugglers Emma developed an obsession with treasures & misdemeanours early on in life. She creates showstopping artworks out of miniature hand-crafted components, often involving precious and curious materials. Her clients include Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie, Zoe Ball, Danny Dyer & Dawn French.
Emma has been widely exhibited the the UK & overseas. Her 2022 solo exhibiton Pop It Like It's Hot received glowing reviews in The Evening Standard, BBC News, Time Out Magazine and The Daily Star.
Gibbons is a regular feature with Saatchi’s The Other Art Fair and The Affordable Art Fair. He work can be found in galleries throughout the UK, and at fairs in New York, LA, Hong Kong & Shanghai.
Lee’s contemporary abstract paintings are colourful, textured and full of movement. Aiming to change the perception of somewhat dated subjects and injecting them with an urban twist. He allows bold, intuitive marks to clash and merge in perfect harmony. Viewers are invited to explore negative spaces and eye-popping shades of colour.
He uses sprays, markers and acrylic paints to create layers of textured backdrops. Areas are manipulated to reveal hidden chinks of buried colour. Each painting evolves in a free-flowing spontaneous, process with each mark influencing the next. Non-traditional tools (knives, trowels and scrapers) allow for a loose and energetic application. The abstract and expressional are expertly balanced…Splashes of neon spray and blobs of pastel are ever present. Textures pop from the surface exploring a new era of painting.
Guy Gee dropped out of art school in 2014 to pursue his passion for design art which led to the creation of his first work - "The Article". Gee took The Article to New York pitching to over 50 galleries, generating interest in his name and work.
After his return to London he spent a year assisting the design and build of sets for advertisements, working for the likes of Coca-Cola, Cadbury's and Marks & Spencer before branching off to start his own studio in 2018.
Surprisingly, Gee has little interest in stamp collecting in the traditional sense but having stumbled across a Japanese stamp from the 1890s an obsession quickly set in. The "Terence Stamp" project had begun: the reimagining of postage stamps by digital revision and enlargement. The commissions and requests that followed soon covered stamps from other countries around the world. Almost four years later Gee has now worked with the stamps of over 100 nations, islands and cities.
Chloe McCarrick is an internationally recognised fine art photographer and mixed-media printmaker. From her London studio and darkroom, she creates bespoke, original and limited edition prints and gifts.
Best known for her circular cyanotypes, Chloe embraces and develops innovative ways of reworking photographic images through collage and mixed-media print techniques, and by blending science, darkroom alchemy and art.
The work explores the boundless possibilities of image production in the age of modern printmaking with an aim to reinvent, recycle, redefine, experiment and preserve. Female empowerment, natural history and science are recurring themes across the work, constructing visual narratives from the lives of extraordinary, trailblazing women - celebrating their achievements, uncovering their struggles and telling the stories of these often unsung heroes.
Stanley Gibbons is the world’s longest established rare stamp merchant, with a distinguished heritage dating back to 1856. For over 150 years, we have served the philatelic community and led from the front when it comes to driving our industry forward - so much so that we actually have a Queens Award for Enterprise for doing just that!
In the pursuit of that goal, we have tried many things, some commendable - like our What Toy Award for helping to introduce children to stamp collecting - and some that are a little bit unusual - Did you know that we broke the Guinness World Record for creating the World’s Largest envelope back in 2010?
But at the heart of all of these projects is a love of our hobby and an eagerness to introduce our world to new people. This is where our new project, Phantom Stamps, comes in... and hopefully you’ll all enjoy it.
Enjoy thousands of items, create custom searches bespoke to you, add to your wishlist and stamp collection from any computer, anywhere!
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