Stefan Marx - Hatje Cantz

A book by Stefan Marx titled Monotypien | Monotypes, set against a white background. The book's black cover features large, hand-drawn, blocky white letters with rough black outlines that read: IDK WHATS GOING ON BUT ITS A LOT. The publisher Hatje Cantz is noted in the bottom right.

A black book by Stefan Marx titled Monotypes, shown at an angle on a white background. The cover features large, hand-drawn white block text that reads, IDK WHATS GOING ON BUT ITS A LOT.

A photograph of the back cover of a book standing on a white surface. The cover is black with a white header showing the ISBN 978-3-7757-5568-9 and publisher Hatje Cantz. Below are descriptive paragraphs in German and English, with a barcode at the bottom.

An open art book on a white surface. The left page features a vibrant blue and yellow linocut print of five smiling, pear-shaped characters with legs, hanging in a row. The right page displays the corresponding black ink line drawing, showing the sketch for the print.

An open book with black, sketchy illustrations on its pages. The left page has a tall, abstract figure with large eyes. The right page shows a cartoon banana character next to two boxes of handwritten text. The top box reads: SOME-TIME I FEEL SO HAPPY. The bottom box reads: THOUGHT OF YOU AS EVERYTHING I'VE HAD BUT COULDN'T KEEP.

An open art book on a white background, displaying two pages. Each page features a child-like black line drawing of stick figures, overlaid with a colored block print of abstract figures. The left page has a red block with blue and pink figures, and the right page has a blue block with white, textured figures.

A black and white two-page spread with two distinct drawings. On the left, page 76 shows a hand-drawn pattern of faceted diamonds, with a few small, cartoonish faces peeking out from the geometric shapes. On the right, page 77 displays an abstract, graffiti-style text piece with thick, looping black lines inside a rectangular border.

A two-page spread from a book, showing two different artistic renderings of the same phrase. On the left, a simple black ink hand-drawing on a white background reads OFTEN A HEART TENDS TO CHANGE ITS MIND. On the right, a vibrant, graphic print of the same text features bold, distorted, orange-red letters on a solid teal background.

A two-page spread from a sketchbook with black and white line drawings. On the left page, labeled 152, are several abstract, spiky, star-like shapes, some within a loosely drawn rectangle. On the right page, 153, a large, amorphous head-like figure contains a window filled with scribbles, is topped with more spiky shapes, and has a small, smiling cartoon character with a long nose at its base.

A black-and-white collage features the phrase OH THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S MY THERAPIST SAID in bold, white, bubbly letters. The cut-out letters, outlined in black, are arranged in uneven lines over a dark, heavily textured background of rough, crisscrossing brushstrokes.

A black-and-white, high-contrast image of a rectangular frame surrounding a blank white space. The frame is made from the word HARMONY repeated continuously in thick, blocky, and slightly distorted capital letters, giving it a rough, stamped, or block-printed appearance.

An art book spread displays two variations of a print with a childlike, graphic style. On the left, a red block features three stylized stick figures in blue and pink. On the right, the same composition appears with a blue block, and the figures are in white. Both prints are layered over a simple black line drawing of a crowd.

A two-page book spread showing two paintings. The painting on the left has the words I WANT YOU TO KNOW I'M A RAINBOW TOO in a light purple, bubbly font on a white background. The painting on the right is an abstract composition in pale pink and white, with faint, obscured text and drips of purple and red paint.

A two-page spread from a book, pages 58 and 59, displaying five artworks. Each piece features the words STILL LIFE in a thick, irregular white font on a solid-colored rectangular background. The colors of the backgrounds are teal, magenta, light grey, royal blue, and pink.

A two-page spread from a book in black and white. On the left, a high-contrast artwork features the words I'M SORRY in large, white, rounded letters against a black background, surrounded by various drawings of flowers. On the right, a simple black line drawing on a white background shows a preparatory sketch for the artwork on the left.

A two-page spread from an art book showing a design process. The left page, under the handwritten title MY LIFE IN BOOKS, displays sketches for a concept called BEAUTY PROBLEMS, with a final teal graphic version overlaid. The right page shows sketches of the word HARMONY forming a border, with a final blue and white graphic of the same concept placed on top.

A book's table of contents in black text on a white background. The chapter titles are listed vertically in both German and English with their page numbers in parentheses. The chapters are: Ungemalte Bilder, Images, never done (6–41); Von der Zeichnung zur Monotypie, Stefan Marx im Gespräch mit Nicola von Velsen, From Drawing to Monotype: Stefan Marx in Conversation with Nicola von Velsen (42–55); Monotypien und Zeichnungen, Monotypes and Drawings (56–173); Geister, Ghosts (175–190); and Index (193–199).

A black-and-white, two-page spread of cartoon drawings. On the left, a tall abstract figure with a scribbled head stands next to a cluster of small, drooping characters. On the right, a sad-looking cartoon banana stands beside two signs with handwritten text. The top sign says, Sometimes I feels so happy. The bottom sign says, Thought of you as everything I've had but couldn't keep.

Stefan Marx

Monotypien / Monotypes

€ 48.00

VAT included. Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout

By (artist): Stefan Marx

Edited by: Stefan Marx

June 2025, 200 Pages, 120 Photos

Paperback

206mm x 292mm

ISBN: 978-3-7757-5568-9

HATJE CANTZ VERLAG
Mommsenstr. 27
10629 Berlin
Germany
E-Mail: contact@hatjecantz.de

According to Article 9(7) of the GPSR Regulation, no additional security information is required for books without supplements or special functions.

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| »Keep it like a Secret«

In 2019, Stefan Marx began his series of monotypes. In collaboration with Berlin-based screen printer Björn Wiede, he developed his own working method: Three individual images are created in three steps―one positive, one negative and the "ghost." What initially fascinated him about this new approach was the bold application of paint and the intensity of the pigments. During the application of the paint, the surface of the picture itself is not touched— instead the image results from the manipulations on the silkscreen itself. Many of these Monotypes are typefaces― Marx's signature wry sayings and quotations―but there are also figurative motifs, including animal drawings and other symbols from his pictorial inventory.

This book follows on from the volume Schriftbilder / Type Works from 2020. Again, Marx has developed this book as an artists' book, creating a fascinating interleaving between the final works and the design sketches from his notebooks.

Over the past 20 years, STEFAN MARX (*1979 Schwalmstadt, Germany) has lent his unique handwriting to a variety of media: paper, canvas, porcelain and textiles. He publishes artists' books and zines, designs record covers for various labels, and shows his work in international exhibitions, at art book fairs and galleries. Marx lives and works in Berlin.