Discipline & ANARCHY: DANNA WEXLER
Danna Wexler is a New York-based curator, creative director, activist, and the founder of Please Knock, an erotic art platform dedicated to preserving and celebrating NYC’s vibrant erotic art scene. Please Knock hosts the annual Erotic Art Fair and is the publisher of Smut Visions NYC, a community-driven book featuring over 500 hand-drawn submissions from New Yorkers, each illustrating their personal interpretation of “smut.” You can read more about the project and the Erotic Art Fair in Paper Magazine and Office Magazine.
To keep this vast network of artists, collectors, and enthusiasts connected, Please Knock sends an erotic newsletter to thousands of subscribers. With the ongoing censorship causing frequent account deletions and follower losses on other platforms, the newsletter has become a crucial and dependable way to maintain communication and share up
WHY DO YOU DO IT? WHAT DRIVES YOU?
I’ve always had a dark sense of humor around sex, and exploring that through artistic expression is something I feel deeply passionate about. Please Knock started as a way to scratch my own itch. I was searching for thoughtful, well-curated erotic art online but found it surprisingly scarce. Eventually, I realized that growing online censorship was the reason this kind of work was so hard to find.
Recognizing that censorship wasn’t just a hurdle but a form of erasure, I shifted Please Knock offline. It evolved into a platform for in-person events and is now best known for the annual Erotic Art Fair in NYC, a space where artists and collectors can showcase and sell explicit work without fear of digital suppression.Erotic art, what I lovingly call “smut”, has since become the heart of my creative and curatorial work.WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO FOR SANITY MAINTENANCE?
Every Sunday I go completely tech-free. No phone, no computer, totally unreachable. I usually spend the day reading and journaling in coffee shops, and if I’ve made plans with friends, you’ll find me wandering around like a crazy person with a hand-drawn map I sketched the day before.
WHAT IS THE SCRAPPIEST THING YOU’VE DONE TO MAKE OR SAVE $$?
Washed my car while it was raining.YOUR TASK IS TO PRESCRIBE ONE BOOK OR FILM TO THE COLLECTIVE. WHAT IS IT?
FILM (or rather, short video): RUBBER JOHNNY, created by Chris Cunningham with music by Aphex Twin.BOOK: THE POWER OF NOW by Eckhart Tolle.Current obsession?
My 3 year old niece.
MOST USEFUL FAILURE?
When I first opened the Please Knock shop, I struggled to draw a clear line between collecting and selling. I kept sourcing rare, out-of-print books I loved, then finding reasons to keep them for myself. It was a useful lesson in the discipline it takes to actually run a shop. That being said, my personal collection is now perfect. SELECTED Q FROM THE PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery??
When you finally get your food delivery but then discover that they messed up your order.WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
Currently, I’m finishing distributing SMUT VISIONS NYC to select bookshops in New York and Japan and preparing for our next event: Please Knock’s Erotic Art Fair 2025.DISCIPLINE OR ANARCHY?
Anarchist, until Adderall kicks in.Check out SMUT VISIONS NYC
500 artists (Collected and curated by Danna Wexler).
