Friday 25 May 2012

J. Otto Seibold. Alice in pop-up Wonderland


J. Otto Seibold distorts the image of Alice to which we have been accustomed, even though different in style, by the illustrators' interpretations from the early 20th century to today. In the pop-up book made by only six animated plates, the artist presents a new Alice deprived of romanticism, fairy atmosphere and crinoline which often has accompanied Carroll's tale. The pop-up mechanisms are simple, not spectacular and they do not distract the reader's attention from the super-coloured and graphically very cool and dynamic illustrations. Everything works perfectly in Seibold's story; the text, minimized and composed by extravagant fonts, comes alongside with the illustrations and, in a certain sense, becomes a substantial part of it. Thanks to the balance of all the elements by which it is composed, this book can be considered not just an illustrated book but a perfect graphic artwork.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Emanuele Luzzati. Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie.


Emanuele Luzzati gives us the happiest, the funniest and the perkiest Alice. Through a series of plates made with mixed media such as collage, etching and painting, Luzzati  creates his own Wonderland. This is a world which joins tradition, popular colture, fairy atmosphere and childhood imaginary. The colours are bright and the joyful atmosphere receives a cheerful Alice, almost naive, who has a big smile printed on a round face coloured by two red cheeks.