Sophomore Concepts instructor Les Kanturek has collected a lovely group of Pinocchio cover-art over at his class blog. Check it out for more images and look for at least SOME of these books to be on display in the 8th floor lobby when classes resume on August 31st!
Via Les Kanturek, here’s a cornucopia of Pinocchio-related goodies to keep all of our summer readers inspired as they read.
From “Pinocchio–1001 Uses,”we have a set of cards available to teachers to be used as a measuring exercise for elementary school.
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From the Cooper-Hewitt art/design collection, we have a delightful pop-up version of the Pinocchio book.
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From “Pinocchio/The Dark Side,” we have a giant (Pinocchio-inspired?) skeleton at The Palazzo Reale in Milan by artist Gino De Dominicus titled “Calamita Cosmica.”
Keep up with Les’s research as the summer progresses–check out his Sophomore concepts blog!
Thanks, Les and keep reading everyone!
Our goal is to create and post an image of Pinocchio each week on the departmental blog. If you are an Illustration student–we need your contributions!!! Your Pinocchio can be a photo, an assemblage, a drawing, a doodle…any visual representation of Pinoke that was created, altered conceived by you.
Specs: 72 dpi jpeg, file appropriately named with the image is (not an incomprehensible string of numbers/letters)
Include: Your name, what year you are, and if you have a website/sketchblog/etc that we can link to
Due: by Weds of every week starting next week!
Send to: illustration@newschool.edu
Hope to get your submission soon!
[Editor’s Note: We’re crossposting this entry from (Parsons Alum and Adjunct Faculty) Les Kanturek’s Sophomore Concepts blog. ]
Pinocchio, by well known French comix artist Winshluss was awarded the Fauve d’or (best comic book prize) at the 37th Angoulême International Comics Festival in France this year. Winshluss, is the pen name of Vincent Parannaud who might also be familiar to some as co-director (with Marjane Satrapi) of the animated film Persepolis.
In Pinocchio, Winshluss has created a wonderfully dark, comic noir interpretation of Carlo Collodi’s classic children’s story. The artwork is primarily done in pen and ink, and watercolor but switches to paint for larger splash panels. He references a terrific range of illustrative styles and history in the story from late 18th century pen and ink, to early French film pioneer Georges Méliès , through early Disney, and underground comix.
Though Disney’s 1940 animated Pinoccho seems to have become the definitive version here in the U.S., Winshluss’ work is much closer to Collodi than Disney in spirit. Like Collodi’s originally serialized story of the wooden marionette, Winshluss’ updated version was first published serialized as chapters in Ferraille Illustré, a French comics journal. Winshluss’ graphic novel is an adult noir movie that at times is both comedy and tragedy. The narrative begins with a shooting, and then flashes back to Pinocchio’s creation (he is now a robot-like android) and adventures. Collodi’s original story is also darker (Pinocchio is hung, Jiminy Cricket is killed…) than Disney’s version. Both versions portray Pinocchio going from one manipulative situation to another. Winshluss has also injected politics into his story which also played a part in Collodi’s original.
The Angoulême site described the book as an “Opera”, which it is in its visual lushness and drama. For the most part, the book is wordless, with multiple characters’ points of view all adding to the sum of Pinocchio’s story. Jiminy Cafard (Cafard translates as cockaroach, as well as hypocrite and a feeling of severe depression)–Pinocchio’s companion–provides the most talking in the book. It seems appropriate and provides comic relief.
As of now Winshluss’ Pinocchio is only available in French (which won’t stop you from enjoying it even if you’re not a French speaker) and through overseas online merchants . Hopefully it will be distributed in the states in the near future.
Thanks, Les!
We are using a new translation (put out by the New York Review of Books) by Geoffrey Beck which features a foreword by Umberto Eco. In addition to an earlier post about more classical illustrations of the book by Mussino, we’ll be featuring some more information about the book, the story, and the art of Pinocchio here on the blog, so keep your eyes open for that!
Summer reading enthusiast and Illustration Alum/Adjunct Faculty Les Kanturek found an interesting blog post about Attilio Mussino’s illustrations for this year’s summer reading book: Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Here is is favorite snippet:
Ironically, the story of a wooden puppet who would go on to lead an independent life beyond his creator became reality as Collodi didn’t live to see the success of his allegorical writing.
Check out the full entry here. You can also access a full collection of pages (like the one above) from a Mussino-illustrated version of Pinocchio at this site–it’s a good source of inspiration and illumination. We should be receiving the books soon and we’ll let you know all know when you can come pick them up. Watch your email, please!
Les will be working on a blockbuster display of Pinocchio-related illustration and ephemera so watch out for that too.