Received: Rosa Gravino's Mapping Mail-Art (Argentina)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Rosa Gravino (Argentina)

November 16, 2010 - Do other members of the IUOMA find themselves having affinities with friends in certain parts of the world due to common interests? Right from the start, I was drawn to mail-artists from Argentina and Brazil because visual poetry is so much a part of their work and, it seems to me, so innovative in those countries and in South America in general. Two friends made very early were Rosa Gravino and Samuel Montalvetti, both of Argentina. This piece I recently received from Rosa is extraordinarily beautiful and incredibly complex: It's hard to believe that a piece like this fits on a postcard. I would not say it is purely vispo but certainly has strong visual-verbal elements. First and foremost, it strikes me as using - very creatively - elements from maps and cartography. If there is something I am missing, I hope you can add your interpretation to the comment stream. Rosa does not allow for wasted space, and I think the front is very interesting too:

Another thing I admire about Rosa Gravino is that she so diligently and faithfully blogs the mail-art she receives at the IUOMA, providing a steady stream of interesting work by very talented people to view. She also has a nice blog:

http://www.rosagravino.blogspot.com

Thank you, Rosa. I look forward to exchanging more mail-art.