IKON #[nn]

Simon Schwartz's IKON, published by avant-verlag in 2018, announces itself with a cover that's hard to look away from — a striking red-and-black composition of fragmented, intense faces stacked in horizontal bands, their wide yellow eyes radiating an almost ritualistic, icon-like intensity. The bold, stylized linework is pure Schwartz, rendered in high-contrast graphic strokes that feel both ancient and urgently modern. At 25 EUR, this is a substantial work from a creator who handled every aspect of the book himself, and the cover alone makes a compelling case for his singular vision.