A SHORT STORY BY FRANZ KAFKA⠀•⠀ARTWORK BY IRI SMITCH

On the centenary of Franz Kafka's death, we're pleased to announce the first private press edition of his masterpiece, A Hunger Artist.

This short story explores the life of an artist – an artist, of sorts. His art is starvation. He captivates audiences through feats of prolonged fasting with the existential danger inherent to his craft. With this enigmatic character, Kafka prods at the tensions between art, voyeurism, the pursuit of authenticity, and the loneliness one feels in the face of shifting public tides. Frustrated and under-appreciated, the hunger artist drives himself to death in the vainglorious pursuit of his strange artistic vision while the public gaze slowly turns away.

The story has been deftly illustrated by Iri Smitch, whose pencil drawings capture its ambiguous shades. Her twelve sketches have been etched onto magnesium plates and printed using a unique oil mix which, we think, replicates the subtleties of the original graphite. Letterpress is rarely seen in this manner.

Smitch has created fifteen "Artist" copies, each bearing a unique oil painting. True livres d'artiste, these books bear an original mark of the artist. In addition, each is accompanied by a draft sketch of one of the artworks printed inside the book – a piece of the edition's editorial history.