JANUS 5

The fifth issue of Janus femzine is devoted to the erotic power of cycling. It features a rare bicycle-striptease photography project of the 1950’s.A woman gets rid of her clothes while cycling. Irini paints on these found images and invites guest writers to reflect on athletics, wheels and desire. For the launch of issue 5, George-Icaros Babasakis and Hector Theoulakis read their Janus poems and texts at Heteroclito, in downtown Athens.

In the 1970s there were two magazines named Janus. One focused on poetry and science fiction and was published in Madison, Wisconsin, by a group of feminists. The second Janus was London based and had erotic, s&m content. Irini Karayannopoulou was inspired by both of these publications to create her own Janus, a self-published edition in 150 copies, challenging and commenting on the stereotypical notions surrounding femininity, sexuality and its roles.