THIS IS NOT A COOKBOOK!, by Ana Crețiu

 THIS IS NOT A COOKBOOK! is the title of the new exhibition of the Visual Kontakt gallery, opening on the 8th of April, that showcases a part of the collection of books published and produced by PogoBooks since its establishment in 2010. The concept of the Berlin-based independent publisher is to suggest an understanding of the art book as space for the creation and exhibition of a work in its own right: "We believe in a future printed on paper, and conceive the printed artwork as a unique art form."

For the past five years, PogoBooks published art books, zines, and editions with an emphasis on photography, drawing and "contemporary nonsense".  PogoBooks understands itself as part of a long and rich tradition of similar DIY projects and self-publishers. This includes offering publications at low costs to make them accessible for everyone. In this way, PogoBooks has already managed to publish over 100 titles.

The Exhibition is divided into 3 parts and a "Reading-Room". The first part is called "The Xerox Room" and shows early self-produced zines by PogoBooks in an installation of black and white Xerox prints. All zines and prints were printed on the Xerox machine that PogoBooks has been using since early 2010.

second part, the "Photobooks Sequences" shows a selection of the latest hardcover and paperback productions by PogoBooks. The focus in this room is on the sequencing and editing of the Photobooks.

The "Risograph Books by Claudio Pogo" part concludes the exhibition by showing artworks and publications by Claudio Pogo printed on a risograph stencil printer. The risograph (or riso) is a printing machine that makes screen-printing and photocopying meet halfway.

Claudio Pfeifer aka Claudio Pogo, Berlin-based artist, founder of the publishing house, bookmaker and publisher works with mixed media, photography, riso, Xerox and screen printing. After studying photography and fine arts, he worked as a cinematographer, was the co-founder of the art-collective and label naive super, and has been running the PogoBooks publishing house since 2010.

Visitors are welcomed until the last day of April 2016.