4 sept ’15 –
29 feb ’16

Tribute to the Love Letter

 

Nowadays the words that we share with our loved ones, are often sent through digital media. What is the value of such a message when it requires almost no effort and it always looks the same? With the raise of internet, social media and smartphones, the authentic love letter and slow mail delivery are being replaced by fast Facebook and WhatsApp messages.

 

From this fascination the art and research collective The Gallery Presents: get started. What would a contemporary love letter look like? In the end of 2013 two letterboxes were filled up to the ridge with thousand letters. The envelopes were a joy to see. The coloured envelopes were labeled, stamped and stickered with old Dutch postage stamps, varying from the holographic ‘Stamp Love’ stamps to the corporate looking stamps of Wilhelmina. The letters were all signed by the pen plotter of Gijs de Heij (graphic designer, Brussels). De Heij lets the signatures of the founders of The Gallery Presents: slowly morph from one to the other over a thousand steps, thereby creating a completely unique signature on each letter.

 

The letters were addressed to creatives from the field of graphic design, located in countries all over the world. The letter consisted of only one request: send us a love letter. In the weeks that followed, international parcels trickled in. From nicely formatted envelopes to big parcels. At this moment the collection consists of 56 unique mail pieces, each telling their own story. The exhibition presents the collection and thereby brings a tribute to the love letter.