170 drawings of the same beautiful cock

What’s wrong with a cock? Nothing at all.
Even less if it is the most beautiful cock in the world,
because a cock doesn’t mean anything but itself:
source of life, source of pleasure.

The life drawings in this book,
made with delight and admiration,
claim to pay tribute to
the most beautiful cock in the world.

December 2020
Edition of 300

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After studying photography at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, Peter Woelck worked as a professional photographer in the GDR for various companies and magazines. Moreover, he independently created a vast amount of artistic works, especially in the field of portrait and architectural photography. Photographs of the construction of the Berlin Television Tower, cityscapes of Leipzig, and intense portraits from the 60s through the 80s document how life used to be in a country that no longer exists. On the other hand, there are photographs from the post-reunification period, during which Woelck repeatedly tried to establish himself as a freelance advertising photographer. Thus, the pictures also tell of a break in the photographer’s biography, the kind of experience that affected many people of his generation.
The book documents the attempt to bring the eclectic diversity of the archive into a sequence of images that does not strive for a photo-historical classification but rather allows a specific and subjective narration to emerge from today’s perspective.

The book includes texts by Wilhelm Klotzek, Woelck’s son, who not only co-manages the estate in collaboration with the Laura Mars Gallery but also artistically deals with the legacy, by writer and publicist Peter Richter, and by curator Bettina Klein.

“Dancing in Connewitz” was published in 2014 on the occasion of a second exhibition of Peter Woelck’s photographs, “PeWo’s Bericht zur Lage der Jugend” (Laura Mars Gallery, Berlin), and was supported by the Stiftung Kunstfonds with funds from VG Bild-Kunst.

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Motto Books will participate at the 3rd edition of BOOKED: 2021 Art Book Fair @ Tai Kwun Contemporary. Hong Kong. From 25 to 28 February 2021.

Alga Marghen in collaboration with Expanded Media Editions is proud to present the final issue of “Soft Need”, a publication centered on the work of William Burroughs and expanding its deep influences into contemporary consciousness.

Founded in 1973 as a reaction to the aftermath of a three weeks’ stay across Xmas and New Year’s with Gysin and Burroughs by their confidant Udo Breger, “Soft Need“ had its roots in the underground press of the previous two decades and at the same time became a prototype for the forthcoming fanzine scene. Even if only 3 numbers were issued in the 70s (SN#8 in 1973 followed by SN#9 in 1976 and SN#17 “The Brion Gysin Special“ in 1977, all in print-runs of 300 to 500 copies) it quickly became a legendary publication for both Burroughs fans and those interested in counterculture experimental poetry artists’ editions. Almost half a century later, the last edition “Soft Need 23“ is now issued including exclusive material by William Burroughs and Brion Gysin as well as multi-media contributions by eighty international authors and artists.

Issued in an edition limited to 431 copies “Soft Need 23” is a 260-page art book reflecting on the contemporary relevance of historical works by Burroughs and Gysin within the frame of the Beat Generation. Dedicated to Ian Sommerville, the English electronic technician and computer programmer who was collaborating with Brion Gysin to the development of the early Dreammachine and programmed the computer-generated random sequences that Gysin used in his early cut-ups, the book present 190 illustrations, literary essays, photographs, poetry, visual art, caricature, memories and a vast array of ephemera by William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Allen Ginsberg, Louise Landes Levi, Gregory Corso, Jean-Jacques Lebel, John Armleder, Paul-Armand Gette, Peter Weibel (director of ZKM Karlsruhe and curator with Udo Breger of “The Name Is Burroughs” show in 2012), Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Sonic Boom, Papiro, James Grauerholz, Robert Wilson and many, many others.

A large format (32x24cm) book printed in 4/4-color and featuring a thread-sewn visible binding, “Soft Need 23” is a multi-media journey into William Burroughs and Brion Gysin underground world connecting them to the Beat Generation counterculture and revealing their influences on following generations. So step right in, and beyond!

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Which images are made manifest across an artist’s practice and which are the ones that disappear? How do objects—whether seen or unseen—and the knowledge they possess traverse across place and time to avow their resistance? These are amongst the questions asked by artist Nour Bishouty in her artist’s book 1—130, a project that draws upon her ongoing research into the works of her father, Ghassan Bishouty (b. 1941 Palestine – d. 2004, Jordan). In 1—130, she borrows from methods of indexing and object classification to act as figurative codes for identification and cross-reference within the contexts of value and legacy. All the while employing paratactic strategies of text and image to understand the life and work of an artist faced with the discontinuity of deracination.

1—130 constitutes reflexive encounters with a series of 130 selected paintings and sculptures made circa 1965-2004 in Lebanon and Jordan, and concludes with an afterword by editor and curator Jacob Korczynski.

1—130 is designed by Laura Pappa & Lotte Lara Schröder and co-published by Art Metropole & Motto Books.

Nour Bishouty is a visual artist working in a range of media including digital images, works on paper, sculpture, video, and writing. Her multidisciplinary practice draws upon autobiographical and material narratives to explore how dominant notions of value are articulated and exchanged, often focusing on the construction of popular identity in relation to histories of place. Nour was a fellow at the 2014/15 Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut. Her work has been exhibited in venues such as Darat Al Funun, Amman; Access Gallery, Vancouver; the Beirut Art Centre, the Helen Day Art Centre, Vermont; Casa Arabe, Madrid and Cordoba; and the Mosaic Rooms, London.

Jacob Korczynski is an independent curator and the recent recipient of a curatorial research fellowship from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. He has curated projects for the Stedelijk Museum, Cooper Cole, Western Front, and the Badischer Kunstverein and his writing has been published by art-agenda, Camera Austria, Flash Art, and BOMB. With curatorial projects taking the form of exhibitions, screenings, and publications he is also the editor of I See/La Camera: I (If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution), Andrew James Paterson’s Collection/Correction (Kunstverein Toronto & Mousse Publishing), Jimmy Robert’s Revue (Leopold Hoesch Museum), and Nour Bishouty’s 1-130 (Art Metropole & Motto Books).

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Maximiliane Baumgartner’s Ich singe nicht für Bilder schöne Lieder (I Don’t Sing Beautiful Songs for Pictures) is the first comprehensive publication that contextualizes and traces her artistic practice of the last four years in relation to the fields of painting, action (space) pedagogy, and critical research on the subject of urban planning.

The publication is a joint project of Neuer Essener Kunstverein and Kunstverein München and includes, in addition to an image section, commissioned texts by Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier, and Moritz Scheper as well as a conversation on the artistic practice of Baumgartner between Luca Beeler, Lucy Kolb, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay, and the artist.

Authors: Luca Beeler, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay, Lucy Kolb, Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier, Moritz Scheper
Publisher: Motto Books, Neuer Essener Kunstverein, Kunstverein München
Design: Ibrahim Öztaş

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Ich singe nicht für Bilder schöne Lieder von Maximiliane Baumgartner ist die erste umfassende Publikation, die ihre künstlerische Praxis der letzten vier Jahre im Bezug zu den Handlungsfeldern der Malerei, der Aktions(-raum)pädagogik sowie kritischer Stadtraumforschung kontextualisiert und nachzeichnet.

Die Publikation ist ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt des Neuen Essener Kunstvereins und des Kunstverein München und umfasst neben einem Bildteil neue Texte von Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier und Moritz Scheper sowie ein Gespräch zum Handlungsfeld der künstlerischen Praxis Baumgartners zwischen Luca Beeler, Lucy Kolb, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay und der Künstlerin.

Autor*innen: Luca Beeler, Maurin Dietrich, Gloria Hasnay, Lucy Kolb, Elke Krasny, Karolin Meunier, Moritz Scheper
Herausgeber*innen: Motto Books, Neuer Essener Kunstverein, Kunstverein München
Design: Ibrahim Öztaş

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Motto is pleased to announce our new collaboration with Polígrafa, Barcelona.

Michael Snow – Sequences – A history of his art, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
Medardo Rosso. Pioneer of Modern Sculpture, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
The Architecture of Life, Iwona Blazwick (Ed.)
Sigmar Polke: Paintings, photographs and films, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
Gordon Matta-Clark – Experience becomes the object, Pedro Donoso (Ed.)
The Feeling of things. Writings on architecture, Adam Caruso (Ed.)
Marcel Broodthaers – Collected Writings, Gloria Moure (Ed.)
Eduardo Chillida. Open-Air Sculptures, Giovanni Carandente (Ed.)
TAKING
 THE COUNTRY’S SIDE. AGRICULTURE AND ARCHITECTURE, Sébastien Marot
ECONOMY OF MEANS, Éric Lapierre
NATURAL BEAUTY, Sébastien Marot
INNER SPACE, Mariabruna Fabrizi and Fosco Lucarelli
QUADERNS #270: Europa Europa, Moisés Puente (Ed.)
QUADERNS #271: About Buildings & Food, Xavier Monteys (Ed.)
QUADERNS #272: Cosmetic Techniques, Nuria Casais, Ferran Grau (Eds.)

All photos are courtesy of the artist and Eirikur Mortagne

List of works:

 1. a Lanscape

 2. Lights

 3. Self-Portrait with Moustaches

 4. Self-Portrait with Moustaches

 5. Various Pens

 6. New Painting

 7. New Painting

 8. New Painting

 9. New Painting

10. Moustaches

11. New Painting

12. New Painting

13. Beer Painting

14. New Painting

15. New Painting

16. New Painting

17. New Painting

18. New Painting

For the next weeks, we’ll try to send online orders as efficiently as possible. (some information here)

Order 2 books and get 1 surprise book for free.

Order 5 books, and get 2 surprise books for free.

Every order above 50€ gets a free Erik Steinbrecher ephemera or poster.

We offer free delivery in Berlin, within reasonable distance, until we can’t do it.

Write us with any requests to: support (at) mottodistribution.com