NAME: Nicola Schwartz/Pocko
LATIN NAME: funambulus integrum
AGE:36

In 1999, Nicola Schwartz founded Pocko, a publishing house that has now expanded into a creative agency and web community. “I love books but I’m also motivated by my desire to create a platform for interesting ideas and creative talent, whatever format they come in,” says Schwartz.

Pocko’s first project was the critically acclaimed Pocko Collection, a series of pocket-sized books, each the repository of the creative obsession of a different artist. They include the Japanese artist Atsuhide Ito’s Dear, Thank You, Yours Sincerely, a collection of 77 letters received by the artist in reply to his various applications over a period of three years—what the publisher calls “a sustained and repetitive meditation on the politics and the poetics of rejection.” Others in the series are more visual and include the knowingly naïve felt-pen portraits of Daisy de Villeneuve’s He Said, She Said.

The experience of putting the series together convinced Schwartz that his ability to recognize young, undiscovered talent might prove valuable. In addition to his own creative work, which includes photography and video, he began to assemble teams to work on projects for major brands. “We always supported our existence providing creative services for interesting brands, but formalizing it as Pocko People Agency is fairly recent,” Schwartz says.

Pocko People now represents art directors, illustrators, animators and photographers from all over the world, bringing them together with clients such as Virgin, Diesel, MTV and Marc Jacobs. The client projects and commissions from Pocko People help support the new publishing ventures for which Schwartz acts as creative director and editor at large.

A recent Pocko Editions publication is The Blade, a 450-page compendium of cutting-edge advertising “that inspires and terrifies us,” by the world’s leading creatives. Schwartz started his BA in Fine Arts in Oklahoma City before graduating from Richmond University, London. After going on to earn an MFA in photography from the Royal College of Art in London, he worked in fashion and music with the likes of Alexander McQueen and the Pixies. Now that Pocko’s London office is well established, Schwartz is in the process of developing a branch in Milan, Italy. Schwartz, like his hero, maintains a careful balance: “Pocko is named after a legendary Hungarian acrobat, the first person to cross the Niagara Falls walking on a tightrope. He was a fearless risk-taking individual who never looked down.” Isaac Gertman

(TOP): Two photographs by Schwartz from 2006. The series of which that are part is titles BLACK FYMBOS, based on the human condition in contemporary South Africa and inspired by Steve Biko’s book I WRITE WHAT I LIKE.