What is an Artistamp?

[Ruud Janssen]

The term artistamp (a portmanteau of the words "artist" and "stamp") or artist's stamp refers to a postage stamp-like artform used to depict or commemorate any subject its creator chooses. Artistamps are a form of Cinderella stamps in that they are not valid for postage, but they differ from forgeries or bogus stamps in that typically the creator has no intent to fool postal authorities or stamp collectors. Some artists working in the artistamp medium, however, such as Michael Hernandez de Luna and Michael Thompson, make the goal of passing off their stamps as postage (and thereby obtaining the endorsement of postal authorities in the form of a cancellation) as an important aspect of the artistic process.

Depending on how the stamp is used, it may be difficult to distinguish artistamps from local post stamps.

Irony, satire, humor, eroticism and subversion of government authority are frequent characteristics of artistamps.

 

source : wikipedia