tiny gigantic

So usually, when our book, Written on the City, gets good reviews, I don’t post ‘em. It’s not that I’m not super damn proud of the piece. I am. It just feels weird to talk about it. But this weekend, my father, who taught art at San Quentin prison for a while, got a two letters from an inmate friend who’s been on death row for 22 years. The letters thanked my dad for sending our book. I’ve transcribed the letters below and you can see them here and here.

Letter one:

Dear Richard,

Thank you so much for the copy of Josh’s book. I received it today. Absolutely Brilliant! He has done some fine work. Very thought-provoking. It’s…saying everything. The media is both primitive and profound—bold and declarative. It’s so fucking real! It’s important.

My deepest thanks, Richard! Please convey my congrats to Josh! For truly impactful sharing. He’s revealed the high art of the street howl. Fucking brilliant. He absolutely gets “it” and he has given “it” optimal exhibition.

Really busy tonight, so I’ll keep it short. I’ll write again soon.

Best in love, always,
Guy

Letter two sent the following day, presumably after he’d had more time to get into it:

Dear Richard,

Josh’s book is HUGE and important art. Amazing. This is one of the most profound encounters with art that I’ve ever had. Beyond…Awesome!

Where did he obtain such keen insight into the human (yearning) soul?! He must have been raised by hippies or wolves or actual human beings or something! ; ) Josh truly gets it. He has crossed the Jordan in artistic exploration. “Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them” (Joshua 1:6)

You have to be bursting with pride and admiration. Great work, this book! Thanks again for sending it to me, Richard!

Know I’m well and I’ll be in touch soon.

Best always,
Guy

Of course, lotsa people made this book what it is. Axel of course. And Dana Steffe, who’s now at the web studio, Cuban Council–and Jonny Waldman, who now lives on a boat. And a ton of other people. Thanks again, guys. You touched someone’s heart with your work.

04/20/09 by josh kamler

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Candy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.