IANNONE, Dorothy.

£300 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Story of Bern, or Showing Colors. First edition, number 154 of a total 500 copies signed by the author. An iconic riposte to the censorship of her work in the Kunsthalle in Bern, this graphic (in every sense) novel is a flaming put-down of the perceived prudishness of the gallery directors and the larger art world. In 1969, Iannone was invited by Dieter Rot to exhibit work in the exhibition Freunde — Friends — d'Fründe. The day before the opening, gallery director Harald Szeemann covered the genitals in Iannone's exhibits with brown tape, before the head of directors went one step further, removing some of the works from the show altogether. Iannone left in the empty place "an epitaph as on a tombstone", reading "HERE GOES DOROTHY IANNONE WHO HAS ONLY ONE COMPLAINT SHE THOUGHT HER FRIENDS WERE ARTISTS BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT THEY AIN'T". Rot removed his works in solidarity and the pair published this the next year. Ironically, every character, including the critics of her work, is depicted with exposed genitalia.

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