Melbourne, Australia

I received an invitation from my friend Mimmo Cozzolino today… so I thought I’d pass this along.

For forty years, Mimmo has been hiding bits of his life in shoe boxes, folders, drawers, and filing cabinets. For the last four years (as part of an MFA at Monash University) he’s been looking at what he put away and choosing the fragments that say something about his life as a migrant and ‘New Australian,’ designer, photographer, and artist. This research has concluded with the creation of nine limited edition books, which Mimmo “wants to share with you.”

The books will be on show at the Monash Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture Masters Gallery D2.09 on Tue. 7, Wed. 8, and Thu. 9 February 2012, between 10am and 5pm. Mimmo will be in or not far from the gallery for the three days. At 5:15pm each day of the show he’ll be meeting friends at the Racecourse Hotel for a drink, and “you’re most welcome to join” him. The hotel is just across the road from the University at 895 Dandenong Rd., Malvern East, Melbourne… wish I could bend an elbow with you there, mate!

You can learn more about Mimmo Cozzolino here, and view photos of his on Flickr account here. I first crossed paths with Mimmo on a trip to Australia in 1999, but we later reconnected during the month I spent as designer in residence at the Monash University Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture in 2006. I drew heavily on his research and writing about early Australian trademarks in the feature article I wrote for Communication Arts magazine about graphic design in Australia back in 2007.