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Suck: First European Sexpaper
William Levy; Heathcote Williams; Germaine Greer; Susan Jansen; Lynne Tillman; Jim Haynes; Willem de Ridder
London and Amsterdam: Joy Publications, 1969-74.A complete set of Suck, touted as the first European sex newspaper tasked with creating “a new pornography which would demystify male and female bodies”. Launched in London in 1969 before moving to Amsterdam to avoid England’s anti-obscenity laws. Heathcote Williams in his Suck manifesto declares “SUCK is Group Sex, Police Sex, Animal Sex, Teeny Sex, One Armed Bandit Sex, Geriatric Sex and Cosmic Sex”, highlighting the nothing is off-limits approach of the editorial board. Though Suck was no mere porno rag, as Australian feminist writer and Suck co-founder Germaine Greer told the academic journal Women’s Studies International Forum, Suck was “a new kind of erotic art, away from the tits ‘n’ ass and the peep-show syndrome.” Greer’s involvement helped push a wave of radical feminist pornography, though she fell out with her co-editors and resigned after they published a photograph of her naked with her legs over her head, not because of the nudity, but the context of its publishing, which is outlined in Greer’s resignation letter printed in the final issue. Greer’s involvement was not the only tip to a radical cause with noted contributors including William S. Burroughs, Valerie Solanas, Michael McClure, W. H. Auden, Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Girodias, and many others. Primary editors were William Levy, Heatcote Williams, Germaine Greer, Susan Jansen, Lynne Tillman, and Jim Haynes, with art direction by Willem de Ridder.
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Wet Dreams: Films & Adventures
William Levy; Willem de Ridder
Amsterdam: Joy Publications, 1973.The book of the Wet Dream Film Festivals presented by Suck, that European Sexpaper. Suck tasked themselves with creating “a new pornography which would demystify male and female bodies”. Heathcote Williams in his Suck manifesto declares “SUCK is Group Sex, Police Sex, Animal Sex, Teeny Sex, One Armed Bandit Sex, Geriatric Sex and Cosmic Sex”. Wet Dreams the book documents the film festivals organised by Suck and held in Amsterdam in 1970 and 1971 showing films for the sexual avant-garde exploring the boundaries between art and pornography. The book, illustrated throughout in the Suck style and with articles by Brion Gysin, Al Goldstein, Betty Dodson, Jim Haynes, Germaine Greer, Heathcote Williams, and many others, together with details of the films shown and the festival judges deliberations.
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The Virgin Sperm Dancer
William Levy; Ginger Gordon
The Hague: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 1978.An ecstatic journey of a boy transformed into a girl for one day only, and her erotic adventures in Amsterdam, magic centrum. A classic publication from the age of sexual liberation, The virgin sperm dancer is an early photobook which illustrates the story of Joop, a young Dutch man who experiences a day transformed as Joopie, a sexually awakened woman. Published as a Suck Special Issue of the Amsterdam-based pornography magazine Suck, The virgin sperm dancer clearly aims to titillate with its uncensored graphic photographs of the escapades in this fantasy. However through the lengthy narrative and exploration of the versatility of sexual experience, Sperm Dancer finds itself as a prototype for later works that explore sexual freedom and concepts of gender. Through depictions of free love in Amsterdam in the 70s with a focus on transsexuality, bisexuality, transvestism, and homosexuality, Sperm dancer avoids gender paradigms of masculinity and power, and includes women’s sexual empowerment and orgasm as a focus of the work. Unusually for a sex magazine, this standalone publication does not appear to pitch its eroticism to a particular sexuality but rather embraces the versatility of sexual experience as being its greatest appeal. The virgin sperm dancer was immediately influential and homaged on the cover of the September 1972 issue of London Oz. A second edition was published in 1978. Suck is touted as the first European sex newspaper and was launched in London in 1969 before moving to Amsterdam to avoid England’s anti-obscenity laws. Written by William Levy. Photographs by Ginger Gordon. This second printing copy signed by William Levy on the title page and inscribed by him to the wrappers verso, For Marta Norman – I became you – Bill 25 IX 78, and with the promotional flyer reproducing the title page laid in.