Foundation Art and Public SpaceSKOR originally took the initiative to publish Mister Motley: a magazine that offers a fresh outlook and is aimed at anyone who wants to find out more about contemporary visual arts. In this way, Mister Motley targets a broad and young readership.
Mister Motley is a fictional character and “Motley” stands for ‘diverse, colorful and varied’, which aptly reflects the magazine’s content. Mister Motley’s articles are organized according to specific themes that are taken from our (daily) lives.
Sandra Smallenburg, as quoted in the NRC Handelsblad (newspaper):
Who exactly is this Mister Motley?
The art magazine, Mister Motley, is on a mission to get as many people as possible interested in art. In doing so, Mister Motley has removed art from its pedestal.
Last year a number of eye-catching posters suddenly emerged onto the street scene, each centering on a certain Mister Motley. One featured the caption ‘De hond van Mr. Motley’ (Mister Motley’s dog) with a photo of a German Sheppard whose head was wrapped in bandages. Another poster carried the headline ‘Het buitenverblijf van Mister Motley’ (Mister Motley’s house in the country) superimposed on the image of a paper castle. In addition to these, postcards featuring cryptic texts were distributed in pubs. One featured the caption ‘Het huisdier van Mister Motley’ (Mister Motley’s pet), which accompanied a picture of an armed rabbit.
In this way, people became increasingly familiar with Mister Motley in only a few weeks time. For instance, they discovered that his neighbor is a little chubby; that his agent wears dodgy glasses; that he likes to play the drums in his free time; that he experiments with fireworks; and, lastly, that he has a Spiderman costume in his wardrobe. However, none of the posters – which were designed by the trendy advertising agency KesselsKramer – revealed Mister Motley’s true identity.
Mister Motley’s office is a long and narrow room located in Amsterdam’s Jordaan district. A filing cabinet, a round iron stove and three desks (each occupied by a young female) line its walls. “Would you like a coffee?” asks one of the women. Personally we really like the ‘Mister Motley Mix’: black coffee with a dash of cappuccino.
One corner of the office features a high stack of colorful booklets – each the size of a school notebook – leaning against the wall. And this is what it’s all about in Mister Motley’s emporium: the art publication. Capital letters on the magazines’ covers spell out “Only five euros” and each red back features the text: Mister Motley is gek op kunst (Mister Motley is crazy about art), which is repeated like a mantra as one’s gaze moves down the pile of magazines. In other words: “Welcome to the wonderful world of Mister Motley: everyone’s personal guide for learning more about art”.
The magazine is around 100 pages thick and has been published on a quarterly basis for the past four years in a pocketbook format. Each issue focuses on a new theme and consistently poses the question: what exactly is art? Furthermore, each magazine features interviews with artists as well as articles about writers and painters who are all connected to that particular issue’s specific theme. Indeed, Mister Motley discusses everything and emphasizes each individual theme with photos that can be either touching, impressive, bizarre and/or beautiful.
Hanne Hagenaars, Mister Motley
Postbus 17048
1001 JA Amterdam
