• Not Another Chapbook / Norman Shapiro
Not Another Chapbook / Norman Shapiro Not Another Chapbook / Norman Shapiro Not Another Chapbook / Norman Shapiro

Not Another Chapbook / Norman Shapiro

Chapbooks

FA.B26.0406
Fine Art Collection
20 leaves; 18.5 x 14.2 cm
1990
Brightwaters
artists' books, offset lithography, pamphlet bindings, pornography
Edition of 100, number 11; Pamphlet bound booklet with geometric and floral pattern illustrated wrappers. Book contains xerox "copier art" photoprints and comic book style illustrations accompanied by a centerfold printed on tan paper, containing an illustrated short story from Shapiro's "Bowser" series. Content is explicitly homoerotic in nature. "I regard my work as pornographic. I distinguish this as a genre distinct from 'erotica'. Pornography implies something more intense, having to do more with western guilt and anxiety about sex. It implies trashiness and corruptible social content. To me, it is therefore more relevant, contending with highly charged prejudices. I think that is important in making art...As used in the dictionary, the word pornography is definitively denigrating, a label for all that is unworthy of serious aesthetic concern. I disagree, as an artist, such dross is my gold."--Artist's Statement.