• Facsimile artist sketchbook, Rafael Melendez, Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook, The Academy of Realness, 2021. Edition of 2. 8 × 15.5 cm, 102 pages, spiral-bound. Dark brown Crown Spiral notebook cover reproduced with produce stickers applied: PLU# 4048 (×2), Kiwifruit 4030 Chile, Valencia 4388 (×4), Lemon 4012 (×2), and further overlapping fruit PLU labels in blue, green, and orange. Silver spiral binding left edge.
  • Interior spread, Rafael Melendez, Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook, The Academy of Realness, 2021. Lined notebook pages. Left: handwritten text in pencil — 'TULSA / 4000 MILES / 120-DAY EXCUSE / 2 BOXES / 275,000 DREAMS / 33% ORIGINAL / 15 PROMISES / 21 PARKS'; below: 'POKER AGAINST MA[CHINE]'. Right: large graphic lettering in purple marker — 'IF I CAN FOOL MYSELF I CAN FOOL YOU'; letters drawn with balloon-like volume, lines extending downward from base.
  • Interior spread, Rafael Melendez, Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook, The Academy of Realness, 2021. Lined notebook pages. Left: large outlined block lettering in pencil — 'I'M DOING YOU A FAVOR'. Right: pencil drawing of a female figure with elaborate layered headdress or hair structure; text written in curved bands throughout the form — 'YOU HAVE NOTHING ON ME', 'THIS IS WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED', 'CURE MY DRAMA'; additional text partially legible in outer bands.
  • Interior spread, Rafael Melendez, Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook, The Academy of Realness, 2021. Lined notebook pages. Left: large outlined block lettering in pencil — 'I'M DOING YOU A FAVOR'. Right: pencil drawing of a female figure with elaborate layered headdress or hair structure; text written in curved bands throughout the form — 'YOU HAVE NOTHING ON ME', 'THIS IS WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED', 'CURE MY DRAMA'; additional text partially legible in outer bands.
  • Back cover, Rafael Melendez, Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook, The Academy of Realness, 2021. Dark brown Crown Spiral notebook cover reproduced. Two retail labels lower right: handwritten purple marker label 'PAY DAY / 776⁰⁰ ORIG / 389⁰⁰ NOW'; yellow N.Y. Central price sticker '$4.45'; barcode sticker '4 979093 050512 / N505A-01 / MADE IN JAPAN'. Scuff marks and handling traces visible as reproduced from source notebook.
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The Academy of Realness

RAFAEL MELENDEZ — Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook, The Academy of Realness, 2021

RAFAEL MELENDEZ — Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook, The Academy of Realness, 2021

£40.00 GBP
£40.00 GBP
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Facsimile artist sketchbook, Rafael Melendez, Peel You: A 2006 Facsimile Sketchbook. The Academy of Realness, 2021. Edition of 2. Spiral-bound, 8 × 15.5 cm, 102 pages.

A private 2006 pocket sketchbook returned as a very small 2021 edition. The facsimile reproduces the original notebook with lined pages, handwritten text, lists, graphic lettering, drawings, fruit stickers, price labels, barcodes, retail marks, and visible handling traces. Cover shows a Japanese Crown Spiral notebook with produce stickers; reverse includes old shop labels and price stickers.

The pages move between drawing, slogan, joke, diary, list, and self-addressed statement. Phrases such as “If I can fool myself I can fool you” and “I’m doing you a favor” place the notebook close to performance, persona, and the unstable voice of early studio thinking.

In The New Rare register, the shift matters: a portable working object becomes a publication. The facsimile does not simply reproduce drawings; it transfers the notebook’s everyday condition into an edition. The result sits between archive, self-portrait, and artist book — a small record of a practice before it has been cleaned up for exhibition.

Condition: Very good. The visible wear, scuffs, stickers, and retail markings are part of the reproduced source notebook and central to the object. Ships carefully packed; UK and international shipping available.

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