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march
12, 2004: Nominations VPRO Grand Prix 2004
=>june
4: 'And the winner is...'
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Winner to be announced June 4,
2004, at the start of Stripdagen Haarlem 2004
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Lewis Trondheim
A circle with tiny legs that has to cross a cleft. The
premise of Lewis Trondheim’s wordless comic book
‘Mister O’ couldn’t be simpler. It makes it all
the more impressive, that from this simple starting
point the Frenchman succeeds in amusing and surprising
on every page. And ‘Mister O‘ is just one of the
drops from the torrential flood of comics the artist has
created in the last decade.
Together with Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim (1964) signs
‘Asterix’-like entertainment with the ironic fantasy
series ‘Donjon’ (‘Dungeon’). Furthermore
he practices the art of genre hopping in his adventure
series ‘Lapinot’ (‘McConey’), he is a
mocking autobiographer in ‘Approximativement’, et
cetera, et cetera. Nearly every month a new comic book
from his hand is published.
The well that is called Lewis Trondheim never runs
dry, the jury marveled. Original, many-sided, funny and
somewhat cynical: Lewis Trondheim is in a class of his
own.
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Juanjo Guarnido
Spanish artist Juanjo Guarnido started his career at
the Walt Disney Studios in France. There he learned how
to bring characters to life with his drawing pen and
such is to be seen in ‘Blacksad’. In this
hard-boiled detective story written by Díaz Canales all
characters are animals. Animals which, thanks to
Guarnido’s (1967) masterful brush line, express
emotions in a most convincing way.
Moreover the artists excels in painting film
noir-backdrops en evoking oppressing atmospheres. Thanks
to Guarnido’s breathtaking images, Canales’s
apocalyptic stories of greed, jealousy and racial
tensions seize the reader’s throat.
The first two comic books of ‘Blacksad’ were
commercial hits in the bookstores. The jury was not
surprised at all. Top entertainment, it concluded |
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Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar is raised in a mediterranean jewish
environment. The same kind of environment that features
prominently in ‘Le Chat du Rabbin’ (‘The
Rabbi’s Cat’). Teasingly, Sfar makes his title cat
ask difficult life questions to the rabbi and his
friends. What does it mean that one can speak? What does
it mean that one can contradict oneself?
Trained philosopher Sfar (1971) creates the most
fantastic dialogues between the smart pet and its master.
He packs his clever, sometimes moving observations in a
seductive, nervous graphic style. Furthermore Joann Sfar
is impressively many-sided and productive.
Together with Lewis Trondheim he creates the catchy
fantasy series ‘Donjon’ (‘Dungeon’), with
Emmanuel Guibert he paints the multicultural historic
drama ‘Les Olives Noires’ (‘Black Olives’),
and solo he creates children’s comics, thick comics
diaries and amusing asides with classic texts by
Voltaire and Plato.
As wide-ranging as Joann Sfar’s works are, the jury
concluded, they are invariably intelligent and original. |
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Jury Stripdagen Haarlem 2004:
- Gerard Zeegers (journalist NRC Handelsblad en
ZozoLala)
- Joy-Ann Bouwman (head comics Donner Books, Rotterdam)
- Gert Jan Pos (journalist Algemeen Dagblad
and
Myx)
- Jessica Hummel (co-initiator NuKomix)
Illustrations
website Stripdagen Haarlem
high resolution scans available on demand: stripdagenhaarlem@xs4all.nl
Backgrounds
Lewis Trondheim: www.lambiek.net/trondheim.htm
Juanjo Guarnido: www.imakinarium.net/comic/ABC%20autores/G/Guarnido/Guarnido.htm
Joann Sfar: www.lambiek.net/sfar.htm
VPRO broadcasting corporation:
www.vpro.nl/index/index.shtml
VPRO Grand Prix of Haarlem (€ 2500, guest curator
of an exhibition during the next edition of Stripdagen
Haarlem)
-“international comics artist
currently working at the top of his or hers abilities”
-winner
delivered a comics masterpiece during the past two years,
while even better work may be yet to come
-jury choses three nominees; these
nominees are presented by e-mail to a selection of some
50 independent comics experts in the Netherlands and
Flanders, who vote and thus decide the actual winner
- official
presentation Friday June 4. during the official opening
of the Stripdagen Haarlem festival
winner 2002: Joe Sacco
Stripdagen Haarlem is the leading comics event in the
The Netherlands and Flanders. Ever since 1992, it has
been organized biyearly. The 2002 festival drew 40,000
visitors to Haarlem.
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'And
the winner is...'
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Lewis
Trondheim
winner VPRO Grand Prix 2004
Haarlem, June 2004 - During the Stripdagen Haarlem press conference,
Lewis Trondheim was awarded the VPRO Grand Prix.
The VPRO Grand Prix is awarded biyearly to the best comics artist active today. The prize entails a sum of E 2.500 (approx. $ 3,000). Plus the winner is invited to act as a guest curator of an exhibition during the next edition of Stripdagen Haarlem.
The announcement of the VPRO Grand Prix marks the official start of Stripdagen Haarlem 2004 comics festival. One of Europe's leading comics festivals, it will take place until June 6 - after which many exhibitions are on show in Haarlem for several weeks. |
From the jury report:
"A circle with tiny legs that has to cross a
cleft. The premise of Lewis Trondheim's wordless comic book
'Mister O' couldn't be more simple. It makes it all the more
impressive, that from this simple starting point the Frenchman succeeds in amusing and surprising on every page. And
'Mister O' is just one of the drops from the torrential flood of comics the artist has created in the last decade. Together with
Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim (1964) signs
'Asterix'-like entertainment with the ironic fantasy series
'Donjon' ('Dungeon'). Furthermore he practices the art of genre hopping in his adventure series
'Lapinot' ('McConey'), he is a mocking autobiographer in
'Approximativement', et cetera, et cetera. Nearly every month a new comic book from his hand is
published. The well that is called Lewis Trondheim never runs dry, the jury
marveled. Original, many-sided, funny and somewhat
cynical: Lewis Trondheim is in a class of his own."
Lewis Trondheim was elected from three nominees by a committee of independent Dutch speaking comics experts. Apart from
Trondheim, Juanjo Guarnido and Joann
Sfar were also nominated. The majority of comics experts chose for
Trondheim, citing the following reasons (among others): |
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"Like no other Lewis Trondheim is the leader of a new generation of comics
artists. Not only because of his great sense of humour and his enormous
productivity, but above all because with DIY comics he worked himself up from the small press scene to the best of international
comics, just by being such an incomparable storyteller."
"Lewis Trondheim is a highly personal comics artist
who, in a short period of time, built an extensive body of
work. His work is characterised by originality, versatility and absolutely seductive design."
"Lewis Trondheim is the leader of a new generation of fresh French comics
artists. He alone produces the quantity of, say, four other authors without this having any impact on the quality of his
work."
"Lewis Trondheim is currently at the heights of his
powers. So much simplicity and so much quality is only offered by
Trondheim. Luckily, these days, his work is increasingly translated into
Dutch." |
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laatste
update: 09-12-04
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