Spectacular collage book & poem for John M. Bennett by Guido Vermeulen (Brussels, Belgium)

Cover: Travels with Collages by Guido Vermeulen (Brussels, Belgium)

June 10, 2013 - Poet, artist, and critic Guido Vermeulen of Brussels is a dedicated and energetic activist in the Eternal Network who freely shares his work and enthusiastically supports artists and writers with his many mail-art calls.

Guido generously sent me a copy of his Travels with Collages book, which is an absolutely spectacular collection that showcases his talents. I am thrilled to be able to present you with excerpts, beginning with his introduction that provides context:

Collage is a favoured medium for Guido Vermeulen. He is also an accomplished asemic writer and visual poet (with a distinct commitment to political activism). Many of the pieces in Travels with Collages reveal that place where asemics and vispo intersect with collage. There is a textual level to “reading” his work, and I suggest you look at the artistic and literary references that abound.

“Please, dear baron, leave these trees (tribute to the Italian writer Italo Calvino)”

While Travels with Collages offers some startling juxtapositions, the book has a narrative continuity based on the foundation of the wonderful illustrations used.

“Comment ne pas aimer… son propre sexe?”

This collage has a strong textual element.

“Ann ou l’instant interdite”

Here Guido Vermeulen uses the classic image of the woman reading from the Age of Print.

“Une soiree chez Richard Wagner”

Among all the other elements, it is not difficult to detect a bit of Surrrealism.

“The gamelang orchestra for peace around 1879″

“At the revolutionary tribunal”

“Faites votre choix entre la passion du christ ou la passion de Sada”

A sampling of wonderful work, and Travels with Collages contains many more. Collage amounts to a tradition in the mail-art network, and Guido Vermeulen is a notable practitioner. I also observe that the art of collage is alive and well in Belgium. Thierry Tillier and Little Shiva are among my favs anywhere. Add Guido to the list.

I remember seeing collages from the 1970s that originated in Ray Johnson’s and the Fluxus network; work by Opal Nations comes to mind especially. Many of them were very similar to what Guido has done here: Illustrations from 19th century books on botany, zoology, history, etc. painstakingly cut with scissors and glued into fantastic hallucinations. No doubt the books were culled for a very small price from used book stores and would be considered rare and collectible today. I suppose you have the issue of the ethics of the wanton destruction of books weighed against the beautiful work that was produced because those pieces were not so much avant garde as elegant and made with great care, even if eccentric.

The package also included an interesting poem Guido composed on the occasion of John M. Bennett’s 70th birdthday:

Guido V. - 10

Many thanks to Guido Vermeulen for sending this wonderful package!

Guido Vermeulen has numerous projects and blogs, including ongoing mail-art calls. If you would like to learn more, you can start here:

http://guidovermeulen.blogspot.com/

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Tags: Sloan, vispo

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Comment by De Villo Sloan on June 11, 2013 at 12:05am

Guido is fantastic for sure. I am really glad he is back with us. 

Comment by Susan McAllister on June 10, 2013 at 8:12pm
Wonderful, as always.

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