Comics Exhibit Opens at the Louvre

The International Herald Tribune carries an Associated Press report on the Louvre’s exhibit Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée: Le petit dessein, which opened with a reception on Wednesday, January 21. The exhibit of work draws exclusively from comics about the Museum co-produced by the Louvre and Futuropolis, and features pages and sketches from the three so-far published books by Nicolas de Crécy, Eric Liberge, and Marc-Antoine Mathieu as well as pages and sketches from Bernard Yslaire’s and Hirohiko Araki’s forthcoming volumes in the series. “We wanted to present this art with the goal of showing its … aesthetic quality,” said curator Fabrice Douar, “but also its quality in the sense of the confrontation between the world of the Louvre and this alternate universe, which is that of comics.”

The BoDoï website carries both installation shots from the exhibit and images of pages and artwork selected for inclusion in the show. The exhibit runs through April 13, 2009.

Louvre Comics in the Louvre

From January 22 through April 13, 2009, the Louvre will exhibit comics pages by Nicolas de Crécy, Eric Liberge, Marc-Antoine Mathieu, and Bernard Yslaire, BoDoï reports. All four of these artists have created books on the theme of the Louvre as part of a collaborative publishing project between the Museum and the current iteration of Futuropolis Press. Two of those books, de Crécy’s Glacial Period and Mathieu’s The Museum Vaults, have so far been translated into English and published in the U.S. by NBM.

The exhibit will include pages from all four of the jointly published books, accompanied by preliminary sketches. BoDoï’s piece notes that the challenge of exhibiting Yslaire’s artwork – which was produced on a computer – will be overcome by including computer monitors in the show.

Blutch Video Interview Online

Liberation runs a fifteen minute video interview with Blutch, the first installment in a weekly “Janvier en BD” interview series leading up to the annual Festival International de la Bande Dessinée (FIBD) in Angoulême, France. The FIBD takes place January 29 through February 12, 2009. Subsequent video interviews will feature Lisa Mandel & Tanxxx, Pieter de Poortere, and Daniel Clowes.

Marjane Satrapi’s Next Film

Barry Gewen writes an appreciation of Marjane Satrapi’s work for the New York Times‘ Paper Cuts blog, occasioned by the recent DVD release of Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Oscar-nominated animated film adaptation of Satrapi’s comics memoir Persepolis. Gewen also briefly surveys Satrapi’s other comics published in English translation, calling Embroideries a “disappointment” but praising the “largely ignored” Chicken with Plums.

Elsewhere, the Iranian news website Payvand notes that Satrapi’s next film will be a live-action adaptation of Chicken with Plums, to be produced again in collaboration with Paronnaud. Pantheon plans a softcover edition of that book for 2009 publication.

Angoulême Announces International Guests

The Festival International de la Bande Dessinée has announced a slate of international guests for 2009. This coming year’s American guests will include: Daniel Clowes, James Kochalka, Adrian Tomine, and Chris Ware. Shaun Tan, winner of last year’s festival award for best graphic album, will visit from Australia. Melinda Gebbie and Posy Simmonds will appear from the UK. Conrad Botes, Joe Daly, Joe Dog and Karlien de Villiers, South African cartoonists associated with the Bittercomix anthology, will also appear as festival guests.

These artists will take part in the Festival’s annual “Rencontres internationales” public interview series. The FIBD will take place January 29 through February 1 in Angoulême, France.