John D Morton is best known for founding the electric eels in Cleveland, Ohio— a violent musical project that could arguably be described as the very first punk band. Other groups followed, such as X__X (pronounced ex-blank-ex), who shared similarities with downtown New York’s No Wave movement, which was happening concurrently.
After the dissolution of X__X in the late 70s, Morton left Cleveland and moved to New York, where he shifted his focus to visual art, and occupied a burgeoning scene populated with figures such as Basquiat and Keith Haring. This book features examples of Morton’s artworks, from this febrile period up to the present, alongside his lesser known and more recent forays into poetry— specifically, experiments in the formats of haiku and tanka. Collected together for the first time, this selection of works delves into Morton’s preoccupations and obsessions: junk culture like B-movies and robots, memories of musician friends such as Anton Fier and Peter Laughner, or even more serious matters surrounding mental health, addiction, and death.
Also available: A limited edition John D Morton postcard set featuring full-color art.
“Morton describes himself as a Nihilist— ‘a sociopath that has taken a course in philosophy,’ he jokes— and he has the learning and the life to back this up.”
–Jon Savage, author of England’s Dreaming
