Le Dictateur Press

"Le Dictateur" is Federico Pepe, a self-proclaimed tyrant who grabbed full power and legitimized himself to begin an ambitious publishing project.
The title "Le Dictateur" is in French, it sounds milder this way... In this form, it nearly sounds like a compliment.
Le Dictateur is the highest expression of the dominion of personal will: the magazine is to be thought of as a state, a space where artists, photographers, fashion world protagonists live together, arbitrarily selected and invited.
Some are famous, some are extremely famous, some are totally unknown: they earned their citizenship because they have been wanted there, and they each became dictators of their own pages.
In total freedom and lack of rules they were called to present a new or custom project for "Le Dictateur": the result is a magazine with an extreme spirit.
Le Dictateur is a proposition, not a critique: Le Dictateur is not very fond of the sophisms of those who use thought and words as alibi and not as support to action.
Confrontation, dialogues can only exist after one's creative freedom has been freely expressed.
"Freedom of choice and movement is fundamental. For certain things - the Dictateur affirms - democracy is useless, it actually weakens in proportion to how many people have decisional power".
Therefore, to maintain the vitality of one's creation at its highest, it needs to be as personal and subjective as possible. It must not undergo the gauntlet of suggestions, hints, evaluations, amputations.
Le Dictateur is a figure which has power, but also for a kind of philanthropy: people want to rebel to the authority principle, but when someone actually takes responsibilities for all the decisions, they are happier and quieter.

"Le Dictateur" label also includes some artists' books and other projects (including Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari's Toilet Paper magazine).
Series:
 
Le Dictateur
2022
bilingual edition (English / Italian)
Le Dictateur releases his last big, immense, effort: 27 international curators from the world of art, design and fashion curate their ideal show, from past, present or even future or non existing artists but without using images—only words.
Antonio Pepe - Mission Aborted
2020
bilingual edition (English / Italian)
Gathering found visual material, this publication retraces the story of an artistic failure: that of a joint project by Federico Pepe and his father Antonio, a cabinet of curiosities featuring latex sculptures of fetuses looking like Mickey Mouse.
Federico Pepe - Coco 7 - Stillleben (box set)
2020
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A limited-edition box set documenting the seventh and penultimate episode of COCO, the project that brings together video art and music by artist and designer Federico Pepe and artist and photographer Jacopo Benassi.
Vincent Peters - 113 C
2018
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Artist's edition: a set of folded posters between two cardboard plates held by elastic bands, featuring a series of black & white female nude by the famous fashion photographer, set in a bus on a rainy night.
Le Dictateur - FAQ
2016
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(last copies available!)
FAQ is an accordion-fold art publication edited by Maurizio Cattelan and Myriam Ben Salah and commissioned by Le Dictateur. Coinciding with the 10th anniversary edition of Le Dictateur, the first volume includes works by Thomas Bayrle, Neil Beloufa, Caroll Dunham, Andra Ursuta, Jon Rafman, Kathy Grannan, Llyn Foulkes, Camille Henrot, Steven Shaerer, Korakrit Arunanondchai, and Judith Bernstein among many others, and will expand into a yearly series.
Daniela Zangrando - Melisma
2015
bilingual edition (English / Italian)
Artist's book.
Daniela Zangrando - Melisma - Special edition
2015
bilingual edition (English / Italian)
Special edition of Alberto Tadiello's artist's book, with an original print signed by the artist (limited edition of 10 copies).
The Eyes Can See What The Mouth Can Not Say
2013
English edition
(last copies available!)
Issue 01 of the zine edited by Jacopo Benassi et Federico Pepe (Le Dictateur): a series of photos taken by Benassi during an evening of performances and concerts at Btomic in La Spezia (Emidio Clementi & Corrado Nuccini, Little Debbie, Khan, Nicole Boitos, Lori Goldston, Z'ev, El Vez, C.J. Ramone...).
Le Dictateur
2013
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After three years of waiting, perhaps the most beautiful issue of Le Dictateur, with twenty series of specially commissioned works by international artists and some astonishing features: an editorial tour de force, between artists' magazine, book-object and paper sculpture.
These Peanuts are Bullets
2012
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(last copies available!)
The large catalogue of the series of exhibitions curated by Le Dictateur at Maurizio Cattelan and Massimiliano Gioni's Family Business, Chelsea (hand numbered limited edition). Works by Roberto Cuoghi, Jacopo Benassi, Ari Marcopoulos, Liz Magic Laser, Federico Pepe, Nico Vascellari, Pierpaolo Ferrari, Julius Von Bismarck...
Federico Pepe - Oh My God! Oh Your God! Oh His/Her God! Oh Our God! Oh Your God! Oh Their God!
2012
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Artist's book based on four recent bodies of sculptures by Federico Pepe.
Amira Fritz - Wild Nothing
2012
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(last copies available!)
A fascinating artist's book that, with its particular structure, states the impossibility of catching the raw beauty without destroying it.
Maurizio Cattelan - Maurizio Has Left the Building (box set)
2012
English edition
Retrospective of Maurizio Cattelan's exhibition at the Guggenheim New York in an extraordinary box set (photos by Pierpaolo Ferrari).
Nico Vascellari - Le Dictateur - Solid Sweat – Cattelan / Ferrari / Pepe / Presicce / Vascellari
2011
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Special issue: five new projects by Maurizio Cattelan, Pierpaolo Ferrari, Federico Pepe, Luigi Presicce, and Nico Vascellari (limited edition).
 Canedicoda - Canedicoda at Le Dictateur - Aero Invisible Giants (vinyl EP)
2011
A droony ambient join venture between Le Dictateur and artist/musician/fashion designer Canedicoda (ultra-limited edition).
Federico Pepe - What do we regret, where do we fall, what do we lick, when do we lay
2009
English edition
Artist's book by Federico Pepe (Le Dictateur).
Federico Pepe - Sinflex
2007
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(last copies available!)
Small luxurious artist's book in a black leather cover, presenting the Sinflex drawings series. 350 copies limited edition, hand numbered (first 20 copies signed by the artist).
Federico Pepe - I am wasting my time
2014
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sold out
Federico Pepe's Magnum opus (limited edition artist's book).
Jacopo Benassi - Slippers (box set)
2014
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sold out
Jacopo Benassi's collection of eroticized slippers (artist's edition—10 booklets in a handmade wood box set).
The Eyes Can See What The Mouth Can Not Say
2013
English edition
sold out
Issue zero of the zine edited by Jacopo Benassi et Federico Pepe (Le Dictateur): a series of photos taken by Benassi during an evening of performances and concerts at Btomic in La Spezia (Kinkaleri, Six Organs of Admittance, Julia Kent, Little Annie, Jochen Arbeit...), with an audio CD of Jochen Arbeit's performance, and an interview with Einstürzende Neubauten's guitarist.
Toilet Paper - June 2012
2012
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sold out
Toilet Paper - February 2012
2012
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sold out
 MSHR - New World (vinyl EP)
2012
sold out
Artists' record by the American performers duo (limited edition of 100 copies).
Le Dictateur
2010
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sold out
A new set of 21 original series of astonishing works in a luxury boxed set (Roger Ballen, Jacopo Benassi, Sophie Calle, Maurizio Cattelan, Roberto Cuoghi, Martin De Thurah, Pierpaolo Ferrari, Paola Manfrin, Federico Pepe, Lady Tarin...).
Roberto Cuoghi - Void
2010
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sold out
An editorial sculpture pushing the boundaries of what an artist's book can be, Void is a radical, minimalist and dramatic project conceived by Federico Pepe (Le Dictateur), which offers a dizzying exploration of the void through a system of perforated pages, revealing a work at its center. Each issue gives room to a single work of a single artist.
Jacopo Benassi - The Ecology of Image
2008
bilingual edition (English / Italian)
sold out
An ambitious (and heavyweight) series of 500 images of ugly and beautiful objects and lives by Italian artist and photographer Jacopo Benassi.
Le Dictateur
2007
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sold out
Aluminium pages, thoughtful pages, leaflet, holograms, relief printing, multicolored ribbon... The 2nd issue of the magazine of images presents a new series of exclusive works by 15 international artists in a luxurious case.
Le Dictateur
2006
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sold out
A new luxurious magazine of images (200 colour pages, 40 cm, soft case in sealed numbered cardboard box, leaflets, cut pages...) collecting exclusive works by international artists (including selected images from Maurizio Cattelan's Permanent Food project).
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