Versus playing cards
Versus collaborative art playing cards vol.1 & 2, United Kingdom, 2010-2011.
Versus is a UK-based illustration collective and the purpose behind these two packs of highly original and innovative cards is to promote and facilitate self-promotion of the work of British artists and illustrators. See the boxes►
In November 2010 Versus launched their first pack at Start the Bus’s exhibition space in Bristol and everyone had a chance to see all the artists’ work and buy both the pack and the prints. In September 2011 Versus launched their second edition playing cards at The Parlour exhibition space in Bristol. Volume 1 was sub-titled “South West Collective” and curated by project coordinator Dave Ashby (Freelance Digital Designer and 3D Artist based in Bristol UK) from his personal illustration contacts; volume 2 (subtitled “Illustration Collective”) was run as a competition. Both packs were sponsored and printed by Ripe Digital.
Volume 1 - “South West Collective”
Above: Versus collaborative art playing cards vol.1, 2010.
Volume 2 - “Illustration Collective”
Above: Versus collaborative art playing cards vol.2, 2011.
Both packs of these self-promotional playing cards show 52 illustrations from 13 different artists, who have each illustrated a set of four cards: aces, twos, threes and so on. There are no jokers, but each pack has two extra cards listing the names and contact details of the artists.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022 • Contact
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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