LACMA & ABAD [158]

Letter from LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) confirming receipt of A Book About Death in their permanent collection.

Many thanks to Mara Thompson who organized the exhibition at The Otis College of Art and Design, and the gift to LACMA.

LACMA Balch Library Gets The ABAD Archives, Bookstore Gets A Free Gift [62]

Artist Mara Thompson, who organized the Otis College of Art and Design exhibition of A Book About Death, brought an archive set of of the project to the LACMA Balch Research Library in Los Angeles, on December 28, 2009.

Mara writes: "After leaving the works with the curators, I viewed a number of publications about and by Ray Johnson. To view both, one need only call ahead of time to to make a reservation."

The archive set was delivered in a box and contained copies of the original The Emily Harvey Foundation program, the New York press release, a complete list of artists and the Otis press release.

During the visit Mara also installed a small sampling of the cards at the LACMA book store. In the spirit of the project, Mara stamped each "free" card with a  text: Do Not Bend Free Art.

"My fervent wish is the exposure brings the artist an unexpected boon or the viewer an unexpected thrill. I grew up with LACMA in my backyard, and would often skip high school to take the bus and kick about the collections.  The experience molded much of my future."