Dick Bruna

Last weekend we visited the Dick Bruna House in Utrecht which was a real eye opener. Everybody knows Dick Bruna or should I say his adorable little creation Miffy, originally called Nijntje in Dutch. He is in a nutshell, one of the most successful and loved Dutch authors alive today who also happens to be an artist, illustrator and graphic designer.

Before Miffy was born, he reluctantly started working for his father's publishing company A.W. Bruna and Zoon, now entitled Bruna, where he illustrated and designed book covers, posters and promotional materials. The covers of the Zwarte Beertjes paperbacks became his most popular along with his designs for Simenon’s Maigret series which star graphic silhouettes of a pipe on various backgrounds.

Bruna has also authored and illustrated over 100 children’s books in his own unique style which consists out of heavy graphic lines, simple shapes and primary colors. The first Miffy book was produced in 1955 and almost 30 others have followed but it wasn’t until 1963 that Bruna finalized her now legendary look. His style is instantly recognizable and was inspired by Matisse.



The Miffy books which also feature her friends and family, contain sixteen pages of story. Each page has one illustration and four lines of verse, the last word of the second line rhymes with the last of the fourth. They are written about things that children can understand or situations they will face and they always have a happy ending.

Bruna's books have now been translated into 40 different languages and over 85 million copies have been sold all over the world.

Now I remember reading a few of his books when I was a little girl, especially the one where Snuffie the dog has little ones who poop in the end, powerful and provocative stuff for a four year old. After that I kinda lost interest. His books are sweet and simple for kids but not exactly awe inspiring to more mature readers. Yet after visiting the fun filled Dick Bruna House and seeing the evolution of his style and many (grown up) book covers, it made me realize that behind his treacherously simple style lays a sophisticated genius.

Gustave, Ghent and gardenias

Last Sunday I went to Ghent for an article on the Gustave van de Woestyne retrospective at the MSK. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the train was packed with senior citizens who were apparently all going to the Floraliën aka the fancy flower show.

Instead of heading straight down to the museum, I decided to take a walk along the river Lys through the historical centre where I was delighted to encounter no less than 4 overcrowded but charming markets: a regular food based market, an antiques market where I bought a lovely lapis lazuli necklace, a book fair and a flower market which was oddly enough my favorite. An entire square filled with flowers, plants, trees and herbs made me giddy with green goodness and sad that I've only got a terrace to recreate my version of paradise on.

After some luscious lunch, a cookie macchiato and a walk in the park I went to the museum and stumbled across yet another market, a flea market to be precise and the tenth annual art books fair just below the steps of the MSK. Ghent truly is the place to be on a sunny Sunday.

I'll be the first to admit that I knew nothing about Gustave van de Woestyne before entering this exhibit but I left it pleasantly surprised and enlightened. He was one of the pioneers of modern Flemish art at the beginning of the 20th century due to his striking mix of Symbolism, Expressionism and Cubism. He mainly paints religious themes, portraits and some landscapes but what's interesting about his work is the way you see the same topics evolve from Classicism towards Modernism throughout the course of one man's career.

His portraits especially, seem treacherously simple but have a timeless quality due to their lack of surroundings. They also exude an almost tactile timelessness induced by their neutral colors with a dash of gold and a hint of despair. But what really got to me, were the often asymmetrical oval eyes that created an unnerving almost stalker-like presence in the room. Freaky stuff but definately worth a look.

Anne-July Aubry's dreamlike damsels

I'm starting my day off with some magical maidens by French illustrator Anne-July Aubry. Inspired by fairytales, nature and dreams, she has created a whimsical yet often melancholy world filled with beauty and ethereal grace.

The Arrival of Shaun Tan

My first encounter with Shaun Tan's work was while I was still working at that bookstore. The Arrival had just been translated into Dutch and was eying me up from across the sales floor. It looked simply gorgeous: a hardback that was made to look like an old and tattered book with beautiful details and ethereal dreamlike drawings. Inside you find a magical and touching tale about a man who leaves his family behind in search of a new land and a better life for all of them. This new land turns out to be a strange yet comforting place where nothing is as it seems. It is filled with odd little creatures and beautiful buildings.

The story is told without words and depends solely on the incredible talent of Tan who was able to create a moving memoir using dazzling sepia drawings. He worked on this book for five years, making The Arrival his own personal tribute to his father who emigrated from Malaysia to Australia. The Arrival went on to win numerous prizes making Shaun Tan a force to be reckoned with.

But who is this Shaun Tan exactly? Tan is an Australian illustrator who at an early age got bitten by the science fiction bug. Most of his works features strange yet adorable alien beings and surreal places. He truly has a knack of creating his own worlds. He started illustrating science fiction and horror stories from the small press but eventually became a freelance illustrator and author of several sublime books. He even worked as a concept artist on films such as Horton hears a Who and WALL-E. His books may seem accessible to all ages due to their lack of text and colorful content, but the themes he subtly intertwines with the exterior excellence are often quite socio-political. He is currently directing a short film.

I have to admit, that this is the first "graphic novel" that has been able to move me solely based on illustration. Tan's work truly is art. And in February he'll have his first Belgian show in Hasselt!

Shakespeare McKean style

Tomorrow I'll be visiting a Dave McKean exhibition in Brussels for an article. He is a multi award-winning illustrator, filmaker, comic book artist,... And yet he is probably most famous for his numerous collaborations with Neil Gaiman for who he has illustrated many books (Coraline, The Graveyard Book,..) and designed the wonderful covers for the celebrated Sandman series. His visual flair is quite unusual and has a magical yet ominous out-of-this-world quality to it.

This example of his movie making skills (in which he revamps Shakespeare's sonnet 138) illustrates his unique and uncanny style:

Stream of consciousness

The past few days have been pretty strange. For one, I didn't have to work for three days straight which was absolute bliss. It also gave me some time to get me head together and do some more beloved job hunting! After two months I've decided that sales really isn't my cup of tea eventhough it's books I'm selling, I'm slowly but surely delving into a deep pit of madness and despair. In order to crawl out, I'm now looking for a part-time job so I'll finally have time to devote to my writing. I just hope the world will love it as much as I do, although I sincerely doubt it.

This weekend I went to the Goya, Redon, Ensor exhibit in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp and it was pretty great. I have to say that I don't know a lot about art and my comments usually range from 'oh pretty' to 'they call that art?' but this was actually quite interesting, especially Redon's and Ensor's drawings that were inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's short stories made my literature loving heart flutter. I was also very impressed by Redon's work in general although I have to admit I had no idea who he was. His black and white drawings were very simple and surprisingly modern. They could have almost been illustrations out of a contemporary upscale graphic novel. And the best part of all, was that I had to write an article about it!

Speaking of graphic novels, I was planning on going to see Watchmen this weekend 'cause for some reason I'm very intrigued by that movie. I don't like special effects / super hero stuff but seeing as this was based on the mother of all graphic novels and the source of a lot of controversy (writer Alan Moore is pissed about how they massacred his brainchild and refuses to have anything to do with it so illustrator Dave Gibbons is reaping all the benefits), it is tickling my fancy. Sadly, that trip had to be postponed to next week.

This weekend wasn't all fun and games, I also had some very bad news, twice actually. I never mentioned this before but my best friend has leukemia. She had a bonemarrow transplant two weeks ago and she isn't doing well. She isn't resonding to treatment and has a lot of infections to battle. As we speak, she's on a ventilator and in a coma. It doesn't look good.
I visited her yesterday and it was really weird because she doesn't look like herself anymore but I couldn't bare not going despite it being an awful sight. I just can't imagine a world without her.

Now if that wasn't enough to drain someone emotionally I also learned that my beloved companion, my baby Molly, has a heart murmur. We went to the vet 'cause she had to pee every 2 minutes and left with a bladder infection and the number of a cat cardiologist. Seriously, a cat cardiologist. After she's stopped peeing every couple of minutes, we have to take her for an ultrasound to see what's wrong with her heart and how long she's got but breathing problems and paralysis are inevitable. Needless to say, I shed a fair amount of tears the past few days.

But I'm going to try and end on a remotely happier note being books, yay! As always I've been buying more than I'm reading. I simply don't seem to have the time to read anymore. I should probably write less and read more but darn it, my Vaio is so addictive!
Now seeing as this book has held the top spot in the the bestseller list ever since I started working in the intellectually numbing hellhole, I decided to give it a go and will now commence reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the already infamous Stieg Larsson. It's crime fiction so, I can hardly wait. Afterwards I'm going to reward myself by reading the third Twilight installment, Eclipse. I've put myself on a Twilight diet (only one a month) because otherwise it'll all be over too soon. And hopefully (meaning if I don't buy anything new) I'll start in People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks next. It's our new bookclub book which this time, I'm determined to finish.

Tragedy, the sequel

Yesterday morning when I got to work I immediately started flipping through the newspapers to see if I found anything about that dead ostrich, thinking it was strange that nobody reported anything about it on friday but apparently they weren't allowed because, are you ready? It was "art" and I totally fell for it!

Actor / "artist" Benjamin Verdonck, thought it would be cool to display a shockingly realistic Pechvogel (loosely translated as unlucky bird) in the middle of a crowded shopping street seeing as it was Friday the 13th. How highly original. According to the newspaper 70% of the people who say this gratuitous scene were simply appaled and disgusted as it was a real dead animal that was displayed simply to nauseate us accompanied with a lot of blood and bucket loads of shit (pardon my French).

So OK, the animal didn't escape which was actually highly unlikely and it (hopefully) didn't suffer but why use such cheap and gross theatrics? What could possibly have been his point because an unlucky bird on Friday the 13th isn't the most illuminated idea out there if you ask me and to sink so low to get a reaction is simply beyond me. Verdonck should really consider a career change or give his "artwork" a second thought at least, maybe even a third before he wastes tax payers money by having an entire police squad guard his carcass all day.

Tragedy

Every Friday I go into town to run some errands but this morning I was shocked by one of the most horrific scenes I've ever seen in real life. I'm not going to describe it because that would just be gratuitous but in the middle of the Meir layed a dead ostrich amongst a lot of blood and other splatters. It silmply made me sick to my stomach and angry that people were just standing there, amazed and laughing.
I can't imagine what that poor animal must have been through but judging by what I saw it must have been terrified and endured a horrendous ordeal. I don't know how an ostrich even got to be in the middle of the Meir, ok there is a zoo nearby but he would have had to "survive" a kilometer of traffic which is highly unlikely and probably the cause of this massacre.
Now I don't know why I'm writing about this because I don't want to turn it into a spectacle like everyone else did, but I guess I just what to raise some awareness for a poor animal whose life came to a tragic end. It shook me to the core to experience such horror and imagine such fear and confussion on his behalf. I hope he rests in peace.

21st century genre painting

Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr (a Vermont native) counts Goya, Edward Gorey, Robert Crumb, Charles Addams, Tex Avery, Roy Lichtenstein and Edward Hopper as his "Art Heroes". The latter’s influence is clearly visible in Brunelle’s vibrant slices of Americana. Although his figures are realistic, he has a strong tendency towards caricature. This tendency (which was induced by his love of cartoons) led him to his breakthrough project; the 1997 cartoon "MR. BRUNELLE EXPLAINS IT ALL", in which his doppelganger tries to explain the absurdities of the modern world.

His acrylic paintings on the other hand, mostly feature lonely characters in day to day scenes with a dash of wry humor turning them into luminescent moments of contemporary life. Not only people but also buildings and cars fascinate him, especially their geometrics which he accentuates by adding a burning lightness in the centers of dark but rich fields of color. Brunelle tries to capture the best of both worlds and identifies himself as a storyteller whose work apprehends moments in the life of the unselfconscious "peasant class" occasionally with unabashed nostalgia, reminiscent of Norman Rockwell. To quote Brunelle: “the homely institutions people don't pay much attention to, like fairs, gas stations and old-fashioned barber shops -- all subjects that feature regular people living their regular lives against a technicolor backdrop."

The first time I saw his work was on a postcard that a friend of mine sent me. Being the girl that I am, I immediately fell for his luscious tones and his ability to make even the most mundane of activities sparkle. The way he combines color with subject matter induces a glimpse of hope in the beholder. Although his paintings are sad and simple, they are exuding warmth through the vibrant colors as they depict the serenity of fleeting moments we so easily take for granted.

"Still later Gerald did a terrible thing to Elsie with a saucepan"

Ranging from gothic to bombastic, Tim Burton’s visual flair is undeniably unique as seen in his films but also in the superb The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, a book of tales that he published in 1996. It is filled with tragically funny yarns about children with various defects and accompanied by his own drawings which in their own right are characteristic examples of his infamous macabre style that was also the basis for The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride.

However, he wasn’t the first to start a range stories intertwining death, comedy and the macabre using beautiful yet simple visuals that enhanced the subtleties of the tales. Burton’s biggest influence was none other than the wicked and whimsical Edward Gorey, whose arch nonsense verse and mock-Victorian prose accompany pen and ink drawings of beady-eyed, blank-faced individuals in Edwardian costume whose dignified demeanour is undercut by silly events leading to their untimely demise.

In the 1950s, when the American Gorey was establishing himself as a young artist, the New York school and abstract expressionism dominated the art world and illustration was a tiny art, a mere hobby in fact. In this world, Gorey's closest contemporaries were cartoonists, for example Charles Addams (creator of the legendary Addams Family) who combined the macabre with high-brow ennui. This influenced Gorey to mix simple verse with his dramatic drawings.

Gorey has produced more than 100 small volumes of gothic fables, meticulously hand-lettered and intricately illustrated, most of them in verse. His works are remarkable combinations of the eccentric, the witty, and the macabre and are illustrated lavishly and with superb technique in dark and abundant Edwardian detail. Although picture books, his works emphasize the adult nature of the content of fairy tales and satirize the conventions of didactic books, especially his many alphabet books. Odd, mysterious, cool, oblique, and very funny, Gorey's works have a completely unique appeal. Gorey's work is reminiscent of a baroque storyboard for a silent film where the juxtaposition of image and text allows us time to consider both, as separate but inseparable parts of the same work.

Gorey's sinister little tales about haunted, pale-featured characters living in a world filled with bleak, clouded landscapes and gloomy, shadow-filled interiors earned him a reputation as the modern master of American Gothic. While his dark view of the world owed something to the imagination of Edgar Allen Poe, Gorey's work was also evocative of the brooding nightmares of Goya or the decadence of Beardsley. His use of language had the inventiveness of Edward Lear or Lewis Carroll, the extravagance of James Joyce and repetitiousness of Samuel Beckett. What was uniquely his own was the way in which he hinted at, rather than showed, the nastiness that so often lurks beneath the respectable appearance of the tightly buttoned characters who secretly indulge their infidelities and indiscretions as well as their frequently murderous thoughts and deeds.

The Loathsome Couple for example is hysterically funny even though it deals with a couple of child murderers. The humor in this story comes from the sheer blandness of it all. The Curious Sofa (where the title of this post is extracted from) on the other hand was sexually explicit and thus self-published. In his work, pornography, like horror, is made all the more shocking by its taking place in the wings or The Gashlycrumb Tinies in which 26 children are alphabetically disposed of one by one. Although these stories frequently and wittily show children or other hapless victims coming to undeserved death, Gorey insisted there was no morbid relish involved. "I see no disparity between my books and everyday life... I write about everyday life."

He has also illustrated works as diverse as Dracula by Bram Stoker, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot.

One can also see his influence in the ascendancy of the graphic novel, especially with artists such as Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Gorey's masterful pen and ink illustrations and his ironic, offbeat humor in which grief, despair, loneliness and unexpected (often unnatural) deaths were the common ingredients, have brought him critical acclaim and an avid following throughout the world.

Venturous Vixens

One of my favorite contemporary artists is Audrey Kawasaki. Audrey, known for her ethereal oil-on-wood paintings, is a 24-year-old Japanese artist out of L.A. and a dropout from the Pratt Institute.

Her paintings are breathtakingly beautiful and surreal seeing as they were created using a delightful mix of Manga and Art Nouveau. She has an uncanny style of depicting the female form (reminiscent of Schiele and Klimt), showing the subjects in innocent and also very sensual/erotic ways while at the same time exuding a darker tone and a disturbing presence of strange magnificent alien princesses with porcelain doll faces. This magnetic kind of glamour that suggests a darker side to all this seductiveness is stunningly alluring. Her girls are precious, pouty, sexy and a tinge of misery or despair is sprinkled around their eyes as if they were just caught in an ephemeral and otherworldly moment of indulgence.

She paints with luscious and delicate brushstrokes, adding to the haunting fairytale atmosphere. Her sharp yet dreamy imagery combined with the wood panels that she paints on, creates an unexpected warmth to the inscrutable subject matter. She gives her seductive yet melancholy characters a sensual esoteric realm of their own that lures in spectators and produces a faint sense of accessibility. The intriguing and feminine bedroom (come and get me) eyes of these elusive women are Kawasaki’s weapon of choice to enthral her mesmerized audience.

Audrey Niffenegger

My first encounter with Audrey Niffenegger’s work was her graphic novel or as she likes to call it “a novel in picture”: The Three Incestuous Sisters. She is an acclaimed author, visual artist and full time professor in the Interdisciplinary Book Arts MFA Program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts.

Her first novel was the mega-best-seller The Time Traveler's Wife, an exceptional novel due to it’s unconventional structure and gripping story. It tells the deeply engrossing yarn of Henry, a man who has a genetic abnormality that causes him to travel in time. He meets Claire as a young child and continues to time travel to her until they eventually meet in real time. He and their relationship are in constant flux. Although they have just met, they have known each other for 15 years and embark on an arduous marriage due to Henry’s small imperfection.

Niffenegger did a wonderful job by taking some complex ideas (time travel, marriage, love, children, friends, literary and artistic allusions, religion, death, childhood, loss, and the list goes on) and poetically weaving them together with amazing clarity into a Sci-Fi romance with an audacious twist. The novel goes beyond the typical love ballad to become a sweet story about living in the moment and enjoying people as they come and go through life. Niffenegger has created an impeccable balance between the down-to-earth-characters whose story is told so matter-of-factly and the enchanting surreal which results in a sexy, dazzling tale.

The Time Traveller’s Wife is a bittersweet novel that I could not put down. I’m not big on love stories as they usually tend towards nauseatingly sweet cliches but this story was written with such (oddly enough) realism and authentic feeling that it was able to walk the fine line between a tearjerker and an exceedingly original Sci Fi fantasy. It is hard to come up with an fresh love story without becoming corny but Niffenegger has resuscitated a classic genre by creating this stunning fairytale with a dark heart.

This dark core is also clearly visible (even more so) in her graphic novels. The Three Incestuous Sisters tells the strange and haunting story of three sisters who live in a lonely house by the sea and get up to all sorts of stuff. The Adventuress on the other hand, is a Gothic romance that follows the dreamlike journey of an alchemist’s daughter. Customary to her “novels in pictures” are the dramatically nuanced full-page prints which tell the story more than the minimalist yet spooky prose does. The sparse prose and haunting aquatint etchings create an otherworldly experience while telling grim and erotic tales.

New Line Cinema is planning to develop a film adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife. The adaptation will be directed by Robert Schwentke and will star Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. Due for release in 2008.

Arts Smarts

I wouldn’t call myself a real art connoisseur but I know the basic tendencies, quintessential artists, that kind of thing. I love going to museums and standing face to face with some of the most famous paintings of our time but (maybe it’s just me) rarely I get the feeling “Wow, now that’s art”. Mostly I’m curious to see them in person and after a while you start liking them and frequently we stand there in a simulated state of awe not because we love what we see but because they are classic, representative, famous or let’s just say it works of art. I’ve never been someone who is easily visually stimulated hence also my preference of plot and dialogue over action and special effects in movies. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about movies, books, music or art, I like to be touched by the emotion or story behind it all. Painting a pretty picture just doesn’t cut it for me.

There is one artist however that I’ve truly admired for a while now and I was even lucky enough to see a brilliant exhibition on her work a few years back in London. I’m talking about Tamara de Lempicka and her glamorous Art Deco paintings. I’m continuously captivated by her sensuous, luscious and unequivocal style. She is a true master at capturing the decadence and seduction of this dazzling era.

Her work was marginalized (she is not considered one of the 20^th century greats) and is now mostly famous due to postcards, calenders,… Still, despite the general opinion, her work is elegant, functional, and ultra modern and in my own personal opinion mesmerizing.

Lempicka’s work which is predominantly situated in the Jazz Age (1918-1929), an age where great writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) and Evelyn Waugh (Vile Bodies) also flourished. She uses bold colours and sharp lines reminiscent of Cubism which add an explosive touch to her work. The initial pezaz is also her way of drawing attention to the dept and humanity in her paintings. Tamara herself was bisexual hence also her preference to glorify the female form.

Personally I am a big fan of the Roaring Twenties’ style, history, literature and icons due to their glamour, sophisticated beauty and abundant intrigue; Lempicka’s paintings just happen to be the embodiment of all this.