It’s not often we find ourselves writing letters these days, let alone love letters, but that’s exactly what Matthew Rose is asking anyone with a pen, paper, envelope and stamp to do for his exhibition The Letters, taking place at Converge Gallery in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (July 5 – August 31, 2013).

The American artist, who lives and works in Paris, France has conceived of an exhibition that is largely dominated with letters, postal ephemeral, words, texts and pictures that are notes and messages to other people, some fictional, some real exploring and reporting via letters on a variety of subjects from love and death and the National Rifle Association to suicide notes in cast-away bottles to a 10-volume set of books entitled, you guessed it, MATTHEW ROSE : THE LETTERS (The Early Years, Dirty Work, Assorted Scandals, etc).

In this particular work the artist is asking artists and writers and lovers the world over to write letters care of him and mail them to the gallery. The unopened letters will be displayed for visitors to see and to take with them – unopened. Matthew Rose, known for his full on collage installations and large mail art exhibitions, is also the artist/curator of the global project A Book About Death, a world wide ongoing exhibition of mail art works on the subject of death. Here, though, the artist turns to love.

“Unopened love letters touching upon all notions of love – unrequited, fulfilled, missed, forgotten, ongoing, funny, sad, tragic – would be a beautiful homage not just to love but to writing, that somewhat lost art we all used to be engaged in,” says the artist. “Largely anonymous, the letters will connect people in an abstract way, and the tension evoked will be potent and mysterious. It’s not unlike finding a love letter in an old library book. Those emotions are universal and powerful.”

The artist adds that each love letter will be rubber stamped with a special logo for the exhibition.

Interested writers and lovers of all ages and all places should feel free to send their love letters (from now until 25 August) to:

MATTHEW ROSE
c/o Converge Gallery
140 West Fourth Street
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
17701 United States of America

More information about the artist: Matthew Rose

And The Letters, which will be posted daily on Tumblr: http://thelettersbymatthewrose.tumblr.com/