Posti’s art award goes to graffiti artist EGS

National postal and logistic services operator Posti has granted the stamp art promotion award of 2018 to graffiti artist EGS.

The award includes a EUR 10,000 monetary prize and a stamp publication of the artist’s work, said a press release.

Posti will publish the stamps with EGS’s work in September, and they will presumably be the world’s first stamps to include real graffiti.

The stamp sheet that will be published on September 12 portrays two different domestic no-value indicator stamps with EGS’s graffiti from around the world.

EGS created the reddish graffiti in cooperation with local painters in a warehouse area in Melbourne, Australia, in 2015. “It is wonderful that this graffiti will be published as a stamp on the other side of the world,” said EGS.

The second stamp illustrates letters E, G and S that form the map of the world. EGS has been familiar with letters and stamps for many years.

Posti aims at increasing the respect and status of art and stamps with this unique award that is granted for the second time.

“We are looking for new talents from outside the stamp design world. EGS is an interesting artist who breaks down traditional art barriers with his graffiti. Visually, graffiti suits stamps very well,” said Posti’s Art Committee Chairman Tommi Kantola.

Posti’s art award 2017 was handed over to sculptor Jasmin Anoschkin.

EGS is one of the internationally best known graffiti artists in Finland. EGS’s art career started after the mid 1980s in Helsinki, inspired by the first wave of graffiti in Finland. Nowadays, EGS’s graffiti can be found in more than 50 countries around the world. During the past few years, EGS has extended his artistic expression towards more traditional art forms, for example, paintings, sculptures and installations. EGS’s work is also displayed in the Helsinki Art Museum in the graffiti exhibition, which is open to the public until September 9.