Comix Influx Blog: Angoulême 2012
Only a couple of days to go until Angoulême 2012 kicks off, and it’s all set up to be a brilliant year.
Firstly, of course, the President is Art Spiegelman. Not just one of the foremost comics creators in the history of the artform, but also one of its foremost thinkers. Anticipation is high to see what he is bringing to Angoulême 2012.
Three exhibitions in particular hint at Spiegelman’s affiliation with the comics Avante Garde.
First off, there’s a retrospective for surrealist visionary, Fred, himself a former President from 1980. In Fred’s day, Presidents weren’t given an exhibition celebrating their work, so this exhibition somewhat corrects that omission, at the same time that Dargaud is bringing out an unabridged collection of his seminal Pilote strip Philemon. We are promised 100 original pieces of Fred’s beautifully rendered, dreamlike sequences, from Philemon and elsewhere.
For the last four years Vincent Sardon has been making idiosynchratic rubber stamps, as detailed on his blog. L’Association is publishing a book about this art project (although it appears that the first printing did not go well), and Angoulême is hosting an exhibition – showing the stamps, the works created with them and a recreation of his studio. I assume this book is from the post-Menu L’Asso (as it is still in production, rather than already delivered), giving this exhibition an extra (and quite possibly misplaced) frisson of intrigue.
Painter and cartoonist Hervé di Rosa has been creating art for three decades, including his avant garde magazine DirosaMagazine, for which this exhibition is named. Throughout his career, Di Rosa used the language and visual styling of comics in his prints and paintings. Although having contributed to French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, he is more commonly associated with the world of fine arts – giving him a natural affinity with Spiegelman.
Spiegelman will of course have his own exhibition, which sounds like it will be an extensive exploration of his career. This has the potential to be one of the must-see exhibitions of recent years. Additionally, he has commisioned an exhibition of the artists that have inspired him, including some massive names as you would expect. Essentially Angoulême 2012’s reputation stands or falls by the quality of these exhibitions.
Charles Berberian has helped create a wide-ranging exhibition on the nature of Europe. Using a character that he created, comics luminaries from around the EU have created strips expanding on themes of the roots, present reality and the future of Europe. There are some great names here, including Joost Swarte, Baru, Prado, Nicholas Mahler, Florence Cestac, Matti Hagelberg, Anouk Ricard, Ulli Lust, Andi Watson and lots more. I’m sure there will be a few misses, as there always are in such large exhibitions, but I’m confident there will be loads to enjoy. It will also be interesting to see how much influence Berberian has had on the exhibition as a whole.
There will be a wide-ranging and perhaps overdue retrospective of Spanish comics at the Espace Franquin. Starting from the Franco-era of censorship censored comics, to the outpouring of creativity of post-dictatorship Spain, (in which many of the most famous Spanish cartoonists blossomed), to the modern day. If this show lives up to its billing it should be fascinating, and visually arresting. (The catalogue will magnanimously be published in French and Spanish – possibly in an attempt to rescue some credibility for this relentlessly Francophone international festival).
The excellently titled “Life isn’t for amateurs” is a Swedish exhibition themed around Sweden’s most famous writer, August Stringberg. I know little to nothing about him, but according to the exhibition’s blurb, Strinberg’s influence is still strongly felt in Sweden, and so various contemporary comics creators have created Strinberg-themed work for this exhibition. Including Joanna Hellgren, whose lovely book Frances is translated on Comix Influx, amongst many others, I’m sure this exhibition will be worth a look.
Taiwan feels the Angoulême spotlight this year. This continues the festivals explorations of East Asia’s comics scene, after last year’s Hong Kong exhibition, the ever increasing presence of China and South Korea over the last decade, and the acceptance of Japanese Manga into the Angoulême-approved comics canon. In such a broad exhibition it’s impossible to get a sense of what to expect, but I’m sure there will be lots of gems within.
Official Selection
Of course, this is the first year of the reborn L’Asso, and it will be fascinating to see what has changed. I anticipate a certain swagger to them, having secured 3 nominations in the Official Selection – the books nominated for a ‘Fauve’, the Oscars of Angoulême. As far as I know, or have been able to tell, JC Menu’s new publishing house, L’Apocalypse, will unsurprisingly (as they are not due to publish anything until later this year) not yet have an official presence at Angoulême, although I expect to see the man himself around.
As ever, the Official Selection contains some amazing books.
3 secondes by Marc-Antoine Mathieu is astonishing. Almost more slow animation than comics – and hence something of a formalist experiment – it is an extraordinary example of what the artform can achieve.
The amazing Brecht Evens maintains his inexorable rise, with a nomination for Les Amateurs (due to be published in English as The Making Of by Drawn + Quarterly later this year.)
Interesting to see Charlie’s War (Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun) nominated in its French translation – it feels like that should be nominated in the Heritage selection.
Eric Lambé’s Joue Avec Moi looks utterly beautiful – soft plains of pastel-like colours, with a smooth assured line. Great to see Frémok among the nominations.
Polina by Bastien Vivès is drawn in a monochrome inky style, much, much looser than his previously nominated Le Gout de Chlore.
I’m very excited to see a new book from Swiss artist Isabelle Pralong, creator of the wonderful L’éléphant (translated on Comix Influx). Oui mais il ne bat que pour vous (Yes but it beats only for you) is in Pralong’s normal style, which I find very effective, although some find a little off-putting. Despite my hopes I’m not really expecting it to win a prize, but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it. Also worth noting that it’s published by L’Association, although I have no idea whether this was a pre- or post-Menu book; it only came out in October, a long while after the two parted company.
Le Mirror de Mowgli is the eagerly awaited follow up to Mon Fils from Olivier Schrauwen, now going by Ollie, apparently. It looks to be a relatively simple (possibly wordless) story, with a suitably becoming three colour palate.
Valérien, Manu Larcenet – a beautiful looking revival of a 60s sci-fi series. Larcenet achieves a great rich and grimey watercolour, reminiscent of the richly rendered adventure stories of yesteryear.
There have been concerns that Les Raquins Marteaux may not surive 2011, but hopefully their nomination here will help. Teddy Beat by Navarro Morgan is set in Brooklyn amongst hipsters and drug dealers. More adult comedy from the publishers that brought you M Feraille.
White River Junction looks intersting – an account of a young Belgian comics creator spending a year’s residency at The Centre for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont.
Lés Vacances de Jésus et Bouddha is a French translation of a manga by Hikaru Nakamura, which looks like a lot of fun. Hope that gets translated into English!
The charming and idiosynchratic Anouk Ricard has Coucous Bouzon, a wacky take on the corporate world of brainstorms and weekend retreats, apparently. I expect it will be very good.
Marion Montaigne has a fun-looking book, Tu Mourras Moins Bête, based on her comics/science blog, which translates as You’ll die less stupid
I like the naïve stylings of Lemon Jefferson Et La Grande Aventure by Simon Roussin. Published by 2024 – a publisher I saw for the first time last year, and noted for their interesting books – this book is produced in felt. Felt!
There are a couple of nominations for ex-students of Angoulême. Skins Party by Timothé Le Boucher, of Le Beaux-Arts, and the appealing Fables Nautiques by Blandin Marin, of l’École Européene Supérior de l’Image.
Doomboy by Tony Sandoval, about a kid playing guitar to his dead friend, feels kinda interesting, with a slight Dave Cooper styling to the art.
Perenial of the Selection Officiele, Étienne Davodeau, is on again this year with Les Ignorants, a black and white autobiographical story about Davodeau and a local winemaker learning from each other.
Kerascoët, whose dark fantasy Jolies Ténebres drew attention (and an Offical Selection nomination) a couple of years back, has another fairy story Beauté. As you’d expect, this looks beautiful; whether it has the same dark undertones remains to be seen (by me, anyway).
En Même Temps que la Jeunesse by Jean Harambat, explores the different approaches to rugby in various countries. Drawn in a appealingly loose style, similar to Johann Sfar.
Cambodian artist Tian’s L’Année du lièvre is a story about escaping the Phnom Penh in 1975, as the Khmer Rouge took power.
Other notables include Chantal Montellier, Blutch, Matsumoto, Cyril Pedrosa, Jason and Frederik Peeters amongst others. And there are also nominations for translated work by Ben Katchor, Jim Woodring, Eddie Campbell, Craig Thompson and Daniel Clowes. To be honest, I’m mostly judging these books by their covers (and descriptions) as shown on the Angoulême website. I’m sure I’ve missed some excellent stuff, and it may be that not all of these books that I’ve picked out turn out to be great, but hey, they’re what caught my eye. I’m sure much more will catch my eye over the next few days.
