The Lost Foreword!

As mentioned, Cohen’s book is out now. Very exciting for us, but there was one regret (other than omitting Andrew Pommier’s brillant pieces by mistake) and that was the “lost” foreword to the book, written by Roger Gastman. Roger is an art world expert, and we were lucky enough to get a contribution from him. He turned in an amazing overview of the project, but it was felt that it mirrord my own personal history foreword, and had to be taken out. boo.
Rather than let it rot on my external hard drive, i thought it would be cool to share here. I got the ok from RG, so we are good to go!

I have never been a huge fan of babies or kids. I feel uncomfortable around them. I have nothing to say to kids, and babies, well, I might drop them and they could break. Their parents would not be happy with me; the babies would not be too happy with me either. So anything that draws the attention away from the “adults” in the room, and keeps kids busy, is fine by me.
So what is the best way to keep kids busy? Other than duct taping them to the wall? Sit them down at the table and give them some paper and crayons. It is better than having them watch TV or play violent video games. Not only does the $3 box of crayons allow you to have some adult time, it forces kids to get creative. With crayon in hand, they can let their imaginations run wild. And with any luck, their work will stay on the paper, not on your walls.
Drawing should keep them busy for hours on end. Although, at some point, they will interrupt your adult time by trotting into the room, proudly waving a drawing in your face that looks like a rainbow just threw up. At which point, you say, “Wow! Can you make me another?” Problem solved.
There are people, however, who encourage kids to create for reasons beyond getting them to go away. Aye Jay is one of those people. He encouraged his young son, Cohen, to create from an early age. And that simple act ultimately led to this book: Cohen’s coloring inspired his father to create the hilarious underground sensation “The Gangsta Rap Coloring Book.” While away promoting that book, Aye Jay carried his son’s watercolors with him, and asked illustrator Charles Burns to draw on one them—the first of hundreds of collaborations.
Since then, Cohen has collaborated with artists of all types—from graffiti writers to fine artists to tattoo artists and beyond. The lucky little bastard even got to work with some of my favorites: WK Interact, Barry McGee, Amanda Visell, Mike Giant and Mark Gonzales, to name just a few.
But while this book is made up of collaborations between Cohen and the artists within, it is, at its core, a collaboration between father and son. It is that collaboration which led to this book. If it was not for a father encouraging a son to create, and a son inspiring a father, you would not be reading this now.
But there is one pitfall to encouraging kids to create: By the time this book comes out, Cohen will be 8, and his portfolio will be bigger than yours. You’ve been warned.
-Roger Gastman