Lucio Fontana’s work inspires cover design for Phaidon book on erotic art

Designed in-house at Phaidon, the cover for The Art of the Erotic references Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale works that the Italian artist devised in the late 1940s

Cover of The Art of the Erotic, Phaidon

Echoing the effect of Fontana’s series of works, which featured slashes or punctures in the canvas, Joao Mota’s design makes use of a dark gatefold cover that doesn’t quite meet in the centre. The resulting ‘slash’ reveals a deep tan colour beneath.

The Art of the Erotic features 170 works that reveal how eroticism has been depicted in art over the centuries – from Athenian pottery and Renaissance painting and sculpture, to the installation work of Bruce Nauman and photography by Nan Goldin and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Cover of The Art of the Erotic, Phaidon
Inside covers of The Art of the Erotic, Phaidon

The book includes an introduction by Rowan Pelling, editor of the recently-launched The Amorist (and previously The Erotic Review).

The Art of the Erotic is published by Phaidon; £59.95. See phaidon.com

The Art of the Erotic, Phaidon, open at pages 28-29, showing Michelangelo, 1513-15 (left) and Raphael, c. 1520 (right)
The Art of the Erotic, Phaidon, open at pages 166-167, showing Thomas Ruff, 2000 (left) and Marlene Dumas, 2000 (right)