THE SINKING BEAR: a newsletter / 1963-64

Foreword by Gerard Malanga

Introduction by Anastasia James

Compiled and edited by Dagon James

9 x 11 inches

156 Pages

Softcover - Limited to 100 copies

Hardcover - Printed on heavy weight, premium paper. Limited to 50 numbered copies, signed by Gerard Malanga, Anastasia James and Dagon James

Created and published by the mysterious Søren Agenoux in 1963-64. The Sinking Bear was a playful parody of poet, Diane di Prima’s seminal newsletter, The Floating Bear.

The Sinking Bear was a print playground for artists including Ray Johnson, Al Hansen, Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol, Joe Brainard, Ondine, Billy Name, Yvonne Rainer and others from the downtown New York avant-garde scene that circulated around the Caffe Cino. Where The Floating Bear had a circulation exceeding 1,000 copies per issue, The Sinking Bear, produced in the basement of the Judson Church, likely had a print run of no more than a few dozen copies, most of which were hand distributed among the small circle of contributors and their friends. For collectors of avant-garde mimeo publications from the 1960s, The Sinking Bear is the stuff of legend. Well known by many but seen by few in the wild.

For the first time, all nine original issues of The Sinking Bear are reproduced in their entirety, actual size and reflecting the multi-colored sheets that the originals were printed on.

This release includes a newly written foreword by Sinking Bear contributor Gerard Malanga with a new introduction by Andy Warhol and New York avant-garde scholar, Anastasia James.

In addition to all nine original issues, this collection includes the impossibly rare, 18 page Freddie Herko memorial book by Søren Agenoux and Ray Johnson, alongside rare archival photographs.

THE SINKING BEAR: a newsletter / 1963-64 will not be widely distributed in stores.