David Wojnarowicz: P.P.O.W, 1989 - October 15th, 2024
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In 1989, to accompany an exhibition at P.P.O.W. gallery in New York, Wojnarowicz published a photocopied zine (in an edition of 50) that included sketches and mockups for his paintings alongside typed notes describing the symbolism and circumstances surrounding the works, along with an introduction by Felix Guattari.
The publication gained legendary status, and in 2020, “In the Shadow of Forward Motion” was republished in facsimile by Primary Information.
54 pages
8.5 x 11 inches
Paperback, perfect bound
ISBN: 9781732098688
Finding catalogs paramount to exhibitions, Wojnarowicz requested a budget for publication from the gallery. Friend and filmmaker Marion Scemama invited Guattari to contribute, and he wrote text based on a slideshow of images sent to him by Wojnarowicz and a written translation of Wojnarowicz’s discussion of his own work. The rest of the catalog was written and designed by Wojnarowicz. Windy Osloff of P.P.OW. recalls in a 2016 interview how Wojnarowicz sat in the gallery office for days furiously typing on their typewriter, faxing, then Xeroxing the book at a local copy shop just hours before the opening. Wojnarowicz writes in the introduction:
“THE NOTES CONTAINED IN THIS BOOK ARE NOT MEANT AS LITERAL EXPLANATIONS OF THE PAINTINGS PHOTOGRAPHS AND SCULPTURES IN THE SHOW; THEY ARE ROUGH NOTES, LATE NIGHT TAPE-RECORDINGS, THINGS SPOKEN IN SLEEP AND FRAGMENTED IDEAS WHICH AT TIMES CONTRADICT EACH OTHER.”