Lolly Batty

March 14–April 29, 2023
An overhead view of eighteen envelopes laid in three rows in a vitrine against a light blue felt background. Each envelope is decorated with a colorful arrangement of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Gallery view at an angle. 18 envelopes are laid out in a vitrine, covered in colorful arrangements of stamps. On the wall behind, 17 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings are sketches for the stamp arrangements realized in the works in the vitrine. On the left wall hang 5 more of these drawings, also pinned to wood.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Gallery view at an angle. In a vitrine, 18 envelopes are laid in 3 rows, decorated with colorful arrangements of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. On the wall behind the vitrine, 12 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings are sketches for the stamp arrangements realized in the works in the vitrine.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

View of a gallery wall, on which hangs sixteen photocopies of drawings on graph paper, which are pinned to a wood baton that runs the length of the wall. The colorful drawings are preliminary sketches for arrangements of stamps in various patterns and shapes.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Gallery view at an angle. In a vitrine, 18 envelopes are laid in 3 rows, decorated with colorful arrangements of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. On the freestanding wall behind the vitrine, 16 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings show sketches for the stamp arrangements.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

In the foreground is a vitrine filled with 18 envelopes laid in 3 rows, each decorated with a colorful arrangement of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. A thin piece of wood hangs across the far wall. To this piece of wood are pinned 20 photocopies of drawings on graph paper, showing sketches for the stamp arrangements.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Detail view of a white envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope are dark green stamps, marked with the image of Queen Elizabeth, which are arranged in the shape of a number sign.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Detail view of envelopes in a vitrine. The envelopes, one of which is purple, are arranged in a grid. The colorful stamps atop them are arranged in various shapes.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Detail view of envelopes in a vitrine. On each of the envelopes is a different arrangement of variously-colored stamps. The stamps, which are blue, dark green, light pink, purple, brown and tan, show the same image of Queen Elizabeth.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Detail view of a peach-colored envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope is an arrangement of pink and tan stamps printed with an image of Queen Elizabeth; the stamps have been postmarked to mirror the pattern of their arrangement.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Detail view of a beige envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope is a gridded pattern of dark green stamps with a cross of brown stamps and a lighter green stamp at the center of the “cross.” Each stamp has been marked with an “X” in dark blue marker.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Detail view of a purple envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope, wine-colored stamps are arranged in a five-by-five square. At the center of the grid is a greenish-brown stamp.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023

Press Release

White Columns is pleased to present Philatelic Items, a solo exhibition of recent works by the London-based artist Lolly Batty. This will be Batty’s first exhibition in the United States.

The exhibition comprises a group of eighteen of Batty’s “postal” works presented in a vitrine, alongside an extensive selection of facsimiles of the artist’s notes and preparatory drawings. The exhibition has been organized in collaboration with the artist Ian Whittlesea and The Everyday Press – who published Batty’s artist’s book Philatelic Items in 2022, copies of which can be purchased at White Columns.

Each of Batty’s works consists of an envelope and a formal arrangement of British postage stamps of various denominations, all of which feature the profile of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022.) Each envelope also bears the address of the intended recipient (sometimes the artist herself.) Batty has then mailed the works – through the British postal service – where the stamps have been “franked” or “canceled” through mechanical means or by hand, prior to their eventual delivery.

Exploring the languages and methodologies of minimalism, conceptualism, mail art, and much more besides, Batty’s Philatelic Items are, in the words of the writer and curator Christabel Stewart “… both singularly authored, and a ‘collaboration’ with the postal system and its workers.” As such they are determinedly “social” works of art, what Stewart refers to as a “joint endeavor” between Batty and her unseen and unknown collaborators. Works from the Philatelic series have stamps that form ‘magic squares’, where each row, column and diagonal add up to the same number; some feature only prime numbers, while others explore the Fibonacci sequence. (The stamps themselves are also now something of anachronism, where the Queen’s portrait has been supplanted by that of her eldest son King Charles III.)

Over the past decade Batty has created more than five hundred of these Philatelic works, exploring the potentially infinite variations that her (intentionally) restricted materials offer. As Stewart suggests, there is “something generous and egalitarian about Batty’s process,” a process that is at once gently subversive and slyly humorous.

 

 

Lolly Batty is an artist based in London, U.K. Since the 1980s she has shown her work extensively including solo exhibitions at Victoria Miro Gallery (1986) and Cabinet (1992), both in London, and in group shows at Coracle, London and Bank, London among others. Her artist’s books Crosswords, 2009, and Philatelic Items, 2022, are published by The Everyday Press.

 

 

White Columns would like to thank Ian Whittlesea, Arnaud Desjardin, The Everyday Press, and Christabel Stewart for their cooperation on this project. A second exhibition of Batty’s ‘Philatelic Items’ will open at the Darren Flook gallery in London in Spring 2023. Batty’s exhibition at White Columns is accompanied by a text written by Christabel Stewart.

For further information about this exhibition contact: violet@whitecolumns.org

Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

Checklist

An overhead view of eighteen envelopes laid in three rows in a vitrine against a light blue felt background. Each envelope is decorated with a colorful arrangement of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns.
Gallery view at an angle. 18 envelopes are laid out in a vitrine, covered in colorful arrangements of stamps. On the wall behind, 17 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings are sketches for the stamp arrangements realized in the works in the vitrine. On the left wall hang 5 more of these drawings, also pinned to wood.
Gallery view at an angle. In a vitrine, 18 envelopes are laid in 3 rows, decorated with colorful arrangements of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. On the wall behind the vitrine, 12 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings are sketches for the stamp arrangements realized in the works in the vitrine.
View of a gallery wall, on which hangs sixteen photocopies of drawings on graph paper, which are pinned to a wood baton that runs the length of the wall. The colorful drawings are preliminary sketches for arrangements of stamps in various patterns and shapes.
Gallery view at an angle. In a vitrine, 18 envelopes are laid in 3 rows, decorated with colorful arrangements of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. On the freestanding wall behind the vitrine, 16 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings show sketches for the stamp arrangements.
In the foreground is a vitrine filled with 18 envelopes laid in 3 rows, each decorated with a colorful arrangement of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. A thin piece of wood hangs across the far wall. To this piece of wood are pinned 20 photocopies of drawings on graph paper, showing sketches for the stamp arrangements.
Detail view of a white envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope are dark green stamps, marked with the image of Queen Elizabeth, which are arranged in the shape of a number sign.
Detail view of envelopes in a vitrine. The envelopes, one of which is purple, are arranged in a grid. The colorful stamps atop them are arranged in various shapes.
Detail view of envelopes in a vitrine. On each of the envelopes is a different arrangement of variously-colored stamps. The stamps, which are blue, dark green, light pink, purple, brown and tan, show the same image of Queen Elizabeth.
Detail view of a peach-colored envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope is an arrangement of pink and tan stamps printed with an image of Queen Elizabeth; the stamps have been postmarked to mirror the pattern of their arrangement.
Detail view of a beige envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope is a gridded pattern of dark green stamps with a cross of brown stamps and a lighter green stamp at the center of the “cross.” Each stamp has been marked with an “X” in dark blue marker.
Detail view of a purple envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope, wine-colored stamps are arranged in a five-by-five square. At the center of the grid is a greenish-brown stamp.

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (An overhead view of eighteen envelopes laid in three rows in a vitrine against a light blue felt background. Each envelope is decorated with a colorful arrangement of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Gallery view at an angle. 18 envelopes are laid out in a vitrine, covered in colorful arrangements of stamps. On the wall behind, 17 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings are sketches for the stamp arrangements realized in the works in the vitrine. On the left wall hang 5 more of these drawings, also pinned to wood.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Gallery view at an angle. In a vitrine, 18 envelopes are laid in 3 rows, decorated with colorful arrangements of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. On the wall behind the vitrine, 12 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings are sketches for the stamp arrangements realized in the works in the vitrine.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (View of a gallery wall, on which hangs sixteen photocopies of drawings on graph paper, which are pinned to a wood baton that runs the length of the wall. The colorful drawings are preliminary sketches for arrangements of stamps in various patterns and shapes.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Gallery view at an angle. In a vitrine, 18 envelopes are laid in 3 rows, decorated with colorful arrangements of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. On the freestanding wall behind the vitrine, 16 photocopies of drawings are pinned to a wood baton. The drawings show sketches for the stamp arrangements.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (In the foreground is a vitrine filled with 18 envelopes laid in 3 rows, each decorated with a colorful arrangement of stamps. The stamps form various shapes and patterns. A thin piece of wood hangs across the far wall. To this piece of wood are pinned 20 photocopies of drawings on graph paper, showing sketches for the stamp arrangements.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Detail view of a white envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope are dark green stamps, marked with the image of Queen Elizabeth, which are arranged in the shape of a number sign.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Detail view of envelopes in a vitrine. The envelopes, one of which is purple, are arranged in a grid. The colorful stamps atop them are arranged in various shapes.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Detail view of envelopes in a vitrine. On each of the envelopes is a different arrangement of variously-colored stamps. The stamps, which are blue, dark green, light pink, purple, brown and tan, show the same image of Queen Elizabeth.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Detail view of a peach-colored envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope is an arrangement of pink and tan stamps printed with an image of Queen Elizabeth; the stamps have been postmarked to mirror the pattern of their arrangement.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Detail view of a beige envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope is a gridded pattern of dark green stamps with a cross of brown stamps and a lighter green stamp at the center of the “cross.” Each stamp has been marked with an “X” in dark blue marker.)

Lolly Batty, installation view, 2023 (Detail view of a purple envelope in a vitrine. On the right half of the envelope, wine-colored stamps are arranged in a five-by-five square. At the center of the grid is a greenish-brown stamp.)