Bizarre Cities TOM Special April 2015 Farewell Guido, compiled by Bernd Reichert

A few months ago, after we learned that Guido Vermeulen, our friend and mail art correspondent had died, Bernd Reichert offered to gather all of our tributes to Guido in a special Bizarre cities edition.  Although I had only known Guido for  three or so years, we had exchanged lots of mail art and ideas.  He sent me poetry, envelopes, Friour magazines, letters, dreams. I was very sad to learn that he I would never visit him in Belgium, never meet him in person.

Guido was a very generous and passionate man. Perhaps that is the lasting impression from The Farewell Guido zine. I found it poignant and felt a sense of loss as I read it. I felt in touch with Guido  when I was making my pages and again when reading.

and the poem at the end…

Participants were:

Mim Glub Scalin
David Stone
Josephine Reichert
Judy Skolnik
David Dellafiora
Katerina Nikoltsou
Cheryl Penn
Tiziana Baracchi
Rebecca Guyver
Jjalltheway (Jennifer Jones)
Alicia Starr
Meral Agar
Petropetal
Eric Basso
PC (TICTAC)
Miche-Art-Universalis
Carl Baker
Nancy Bell Scott
Gina Ulgen
Paul and Mirielle Verhulst
Bernd Reichert

If you want to download the zine you can do it here: http://issuu.com/mailworksbrussels/docs/publication/1

I got #9.  The pages I made were vintage magazine pages that I altered, adding fused plastic to make stained glass windows.  It took a long time and I thought about Guido throughout. I loved the way Bernd put my page next to an image of Guidos stained glass envelope.

Theo Nelson's Tribute to Guido Vermeulen

I'm sure the mail art world is still thinking often of our friend, Guido Vermeulen, who died earlier this year. Guido loved trees and sent many radiant watercolours to all corners of the world.  Theo has taken at least those two characteristics of our friend and brought him back to life through his wonderful poster and envelope!  Many thanks for this delightful memory of Guido.

John Bennett's one of two fat envelopes!

A HUGE thank you to John for a stuffed envelope full of collaborative bookies! I've chosen a page from each to entice you with! I hope to add to this blog when I have a bit more time and scan them in their entirety. Treasures.

John M Bennett  (Luna Bisonte Prods 2014) Page Drain, (nine poems) including:

pollen

snore in shade

wet stone

spill the coffee

was mouth

worm door

box of

cereal eyes

or serialize

moves across

your face h

and cloud

swollen shoe

again

for C. Mehrl Bennett

Loma Lodo John M Bennett & Claudia Garcia (Luna Bisonte Prods 2014)

Juan Orozco & John M Bennett  (Luna Bisonte Prods 2014) REYNO

John M Bennett  (Luna Bisonte Prods 2014) PISO LLAGAS

Vittore Baroni & John M Bennett  (Luna Bisonte Prods 2014) CLAW EATS

Diane Keys & John M Bennett  (Luna Bisonte Prods 2014) DEEP SUIT

John M Bennett Guido Vermeulen (Luna Bisonte Prods 2014)

Fabulous to see the variety of these collaborations as well as the trademark Bennett asemics! 

Guido Tribute - Katerina Nikoltsu

The mail art community has not stopped grieving for our friend and fellow mail artist, Guido Vermeulen. We all have treasures that we revisit and remember him by.  But there is no doubt, he has left a big hole.
Many thanks, Kat.

Exquisite original watercolours from Guido Vermeulen

I'm not sure how I got so lucky to receive FOUR original beauties from Guido. I am terribly behind in correspondence (I blame the series of mail art exhibitions I've been involved with this year).  Still, people with whom I was once in regular contact with have been neglected.  So you can imagine my delight when I opened Guido's envelope to find these radiant 3 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch watercolours.

Do You LIke My Fangs? - June 2014

Standing Stone in my Living Room - June 2014

This in not the End of our Conversations - June 2014

Courir À la Rencontre de la Nuit Prochaine - June 2014

Although the titles suggest that Guido doesn't mean for these to be uplifting, or joyous, I can't help but be overjoyed by these!

Guido Vermeulen's Faces of Universal Tragedies 7

Guido's original envelope arrived in one of those we're sorry envelopes.  It was not damaged, I guess some cautious postal clerk wanted to make sure this parcel made it in its totality - I guess the ink made the envelope feel a bit delicate. 

 A card 'ON FIRE" based on reflections by Gaston Bachelard (France) from R Budha Thoki (Nepal) and Guido Vermeulen (Belgium).  On the back of Guido's book 7 I find this 'Rant' (his word not mine) from Guido:

Universal tragedies: Official His-storyis written b the conquerors and victors; not by the defeated ones of victims.  Worse even: the victims become the bad guys; they are equal to the tormentors or the reason for all the drudgery; they are the real villains to justify genocide.

I have selected a few of the wonderful faces from Guido's book 7.

There are more questions than answers, always. 

L'ouverture n'est pas toujours si simple que cela!

Nero discovers the poetics of space, tribute to Gaston Bachelard

We are surrounded by the unknown, more than we know...

 Below is a list of the faces illustrations.

Guido Vermeulen's Friour Editions 2013: Moon Faces 4

Delighted to receive Guido's moon faces, images that I have been delighting from as they have appeared at IUOMA. 

Guido's hand-painted envelope: Facing my own tears in the Mirror X24!

 Love the stamp which looks like a Vermeulen collage. And the way the three greens, the butterfly, and the two larger paint daubs  (and the splatters) exist in perfect harmony.  The following are the images that leapt out at me this time.  There are 48 all together!  Thank you Guido.

About the ambush they call love

Admiring the cosmic spagetti, PDM to Zois and Lynn on April 29, 2013

About the tragic loss of some stones in some luggage

The dark ocean

Looking the sea horse into its mouth, before it changes sex...

Guido sends me Vermeulen/Pullo collab book!

In the same way that I am covetous of Bonnard's ability to use every inch of his canvases to create spectacular relationships using colours and marks, I find this collab by Kerri Pullo and Guido Vermeulen achieves the same poignancy, the same vibrancy and freshness. They make it look so easy! 

This small book 3"x4" is the same size as the book I sent Guido.  And he writes that this is in return. I am delighted, touched, inspired! Guido tells me that Kerri agreed 'to let the book go and travel further to you' (me).  Thank you Kerri.  thank you Guido.  I love it! I bet Cheryl Penn would like to see it, if she hasn't already.  She has been exploring rorschach blots .http://cherylpenn.com/wpb/?p=2187

And as if that weren't enough... Guido sent me this emotive ink which he calls, 'A contemplation on the suicide of Sylvia Plath (Happy birhtday 87 October). Wow.

New Friour Edition 2013

The characters on this envelope suggest Guido's bold and imagistic line so when I opened it and found Beautiful new work from Guido in this A6 booklet, I was delighted, but not surprised.  I recognise the captivating faces from Birthday mania, Guido's herculean new endeavour! Thank you Guido, another treasure!