Index: Bill Gaglione
Biography
Bill (William) Gaglione, born in New York City in 1943, became an influential networker in the mail art network during the 1960s. Gaglione took an active role in the New York Correspondence School, along with his friend Ray Johnson, where he created his coded name “Dadaland”. Long before the general public was aware of the artistic possibilities, mail artists were using rubber stamps to decorate their envelopes, finding abstract applications, and developing techniques. Rubber stamp art became an important genre within mail art, along with publications, postage stamps, photocopy, and audio cassette trade, and began to generate its own shows, magazines, and conventions. From being a contributor in the movement, Gaglione’s position was to publicize the up and coming genre by utilizing the publications, shows, magazines, and audio cassettes.
Gaglione left New York and moved to California during the 1970s, where he founded his first company dedicated to mail art, Stamp Francisco. While living in San Francisco, he befriended other mail artists, including Darlene Domel, who he later married, and Anna “Banana” Lee. During this time, he contributed to artistamp, which is the art form of a postage stamp, but not meant to be considered real. Additionally, it was with Anna Banana that Gaglione developed Vile Magazine, which gave the opportunity for mail artists to publish their art and other publications. As Gaglione became more empowered with the mail art movement, he was known as a pioneer and developed the name “Picasso” Gaglione for all of the techniques he created.
During the 1990s, Gaglione focused his attention on the fine art of rubber stamping and his role as curator for the Stamp Art Gallery in San Francisco. Currently, Gaglione resides in Chicago with Darlene Domel. He owns a company, Stampland, which consists of fine art rubber stamps that he sells.
