The Political History of Male Homosexuality

 I would like to point your attention to the new book "Political History of Male Homosexuality in Socialist Yugoslavia" by Frank Dota. Published by Fraktura, Croatia
 

"The book Political History of Male Homosexuality in Socialist Yugoslavia by historian, journalist, translator and activist Frank Dota is a significant step forward in the study of an apparently marginal phenomenon. With the book, based on diligent archival work and with rare intellectual and moral responsibility, Dota has filled a gap that our historiography has insufficiently – or not at all – addressed. The importance of Political History of Male Homosexuality in Socialist Yugoslavia is not exhausted by this and is not reduced to the topic contained in the title.

The evolution of the Yugoslav state and society, from post-war totalitarianism, through liberalization and soft authoritarianism, to the relatively free 1980s, is reflected in the mirror of the fate of male homosexuals, who were initially stigmatized, exposed to contempt and criminal prosecution, and then gradually, however reluctantly, accepted. To this extent, Dota's Political History of Male Homosexuality in Socialist Yugoslavia exposes the revisionist narratives present in a part of our public. Namely, the stigma and fate of male homosexuals in Yugoslavia in the 1950s and 1960s did not differ significantly from the stigma and fate in the democratic West.

Finally, The Political History of Male Homosexuality in Socialist Yugoslavia also has an activist dimension. It addresses not only homosexuals but also all who feel themselves victims of prejudice of any kind. Frank Dota uses it to call for Freedom, because in a society in which homosexuals are not free, in which, therefore, the minority is not free, the heterosexual majority cannot be free either."
 

The illustration which they used on the cover of the book, I originally created for the article "Homo, homine, homić,” in Start magazine in 1980, one of the largest mainstream magazines in Socialist Yugoslavia. This was one of the few articles written about homosexuality at this time.

The designer of the book cover, Ivan Stanišić, created an unusual and effective cover.

 

Steppenmerch

 

In 1990, Nicky Lindeman and I designed and illustrated the book cover for Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, published by Henry Holt and Company. In preparation for an upcoming show of my work, I reverse image searched the cover to gather more information.

To my surprise, I came across hundreds of products from various vendors using the image of the cover or the entire cover on merchandise from t-shirts to tote bags to bibs to bedspreads. As a matter of fact, one of the vendors is selling over 100 of those items. All of this was done without asking for my permission.

 

 

 

MSNBC News Blast from the Past

Watching David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer-winning author, discuss Trump's financial troubles on MSNBC News last night, I suddenly noticed something familiar. On his bookshelves, he was displaying three books: Perfectly Legal, Free Lunch, and The Fine Print. These are all book for which I created the illustrations fifteen or twenty years ago. A blast from the past.

At that time, I illustrated the covers of many political and economic books, mainly for Penguin Books. You can see some of them here and  here.  

Those books were art-directed and designed by Joseph Perez.

 

Graphis Design Awards 2024

I'm pleased to announce that my Milton Glaser: POP book I design received a silver award from the Graphis Design Awards Competition 2024.

I designed this book with the help of Ignacio Serrano and Xiaohua Yang.

The book was published by Monacelli Press and contains well over 1100 visuals. It covers Milton Glaser's work from when he was a 12-year-old (1942) through 1975.

You can see more pages of the "Milton Glaser: POP" book here.

 

Milton Glaser: POP

My design of the book Milton Glaser: POP. I co-authored the book with Beth Kleber and Steven Heller. It is published by The Monacelli Press, and it is a hardcover book, 288 pages, 4.72 x 9.45 inches. The book contains well over 1,100 visuals, covering Milton's work from when he was a 12-year-old (1942) to 1975.

The first review of the book on the prestigious art website It's Nice That under the title A new book shows Milton Glaser’s impact in the 60s and 70s, from psychedelia and beyond.