Main exhibition: International Participations
Francesco Tullio Altan
Comics / Cartoon
Born on 30 September 1942, Francesco Tullio Altan is the most well-known satirical artist in Europe. He originally studied architecture and worked in the fields of cinema and television. In 1970 he moved to Brazil and started publishing children's comic strips. In 1974 he returned to Italy and created the “Pimpa” series, while also drawing comics (Ada, Colombo) for “Linus” magazine. Altan enjoys popularity with a wide audience mainly for his sarcastic political drawings which regularly appear in major European magazines and newspapers. A guest of honor at this 1st Festival, he gladly autographed his albums for the visitors of the exhibition.
http://www.pimpa.it/
Daniele Brolli
Comics
Daniele Brolli was born in 1959, Rimini, Italy and is one of the most ingenious talents in Italian comics. A member of the Valvoline group, he published in “Frigidaire” and “Alter Alter”, where his peculiar style of a turbulent, nightmarish world stood out. He has worked as a scriptwriter with numerous illustrators, and has managed several important magazines. He is a writer, an essayist, and a consulting editor for major publishing houses in Italy, considered an expert in American beat literature and science fiction. Daniele Brolli has been a member of the organizing committee for the International Comics Festival of Athens since 1996.
Max Cabanes
Comics
He was born in 1947, France, and is well known for his artistic comics where color plays a major role and each strip is reminiscent of impressionist painting. With subdued hues and attention to light, he illustrates bitter-sweet stories without ever moralizing. Cabanes has published in major French magazines.
Pablo Echaurren
Comics
Of Chilean origin, Pablo Echaurren was born in 1951, Rome, where he currently lives and works. His avant-garde comics walk a thin line between futurism and cubism. The fragmentation of the image and of the surface of the frame is characteristic of his work. The overall intensity and the violent use of basic colors result in a sincere humane effect. Echaurren illustrated the poster for this 1st Festival.
http://www.pabloechaurren.com/
Édika
Comics
One of the most acclaimed satirical designers, Édika (born Edouard Carali) was born in 1940, Egypt. In the late 1970’s he began publishing in the magazines “Pilote”, “Charlie Mensuel”, and “Fluide Glacial”, in which he still works. His outrageous, surreal stories involve inconsequential plot development and often no proper ending. His characters, the insane Bronski family (Bronski Proko, his wife Olga, their kids Paganini and Georges, and a human-like cat) have rendered him famous worldwide.
http://www.blougou.com/edika/
Vittorio Giardino
Comics
He was born in 1946, Bologna, Italy, and studied electrical engineering. At the age of 30, he decided to leave his job and devote himself to comics. His work is characterized by exquisite detail in drawing (reminiscent of the French “ligne claire”), powerful scripts, and the representation of the historical and political atmosphere (his character Max Fridman is an ex-secret agent thrown in the political struggle in 1930s Europe). His work depicts the darkest moments in European history, Nazism, the Spanish civil war, and Stalinism.
http://users.belgacom.net/vittorio_giardino_universe/
Jacques de Loustal
Comics / Illustration
Born in 1956, Jacques de Loustal is one of the greatest European artists in the arts of comics and illustration. Since 1979, he was been working with the scriptwriter Philippe Paringaux, originally on short stories for “Métal Hurlant” and after that for “À Suivre” on a series of wonderful stories (“Coeurs de Sable”, “Barney et la Note Bleue”, “Un Jeune Homme Romantique” and “Kid Congo”). He has published stories in numerous magazines, mainly in collaboration with scriptwriters such as Jean-Luc Fromental and Jerome Charyn. He stands out as an important prolific illustrator, publishing both personal albums and portfolios and working on the books of authors like Georges Simenon. He has made a lot of covers for the “New Yorker” and has published an array of traveler’s albums featuring his travels. Moody, with a retro sense of elegance, Loustal can be described one of the last romantics of our era.
http://www.loustal.com/
http://www.loustal.net/
Frank Margerin
Comics
Born in 1952 in France, Frank Margerin created his most famous character, Lucien, in 1979. Lucien is a rocker of the French suburbs in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The tender, benevolent sense of humor, the bright colors, and the plasticity of the drawing are typical of his work. A genuine lover of rock’n’roll, Margerin has taken part in several music groups. His work has been published all around the world.
http://margerinf.free.fr/
Lorenzo Mattotti: «Segni e colori»
Comics / Illustration
The 1st International Comics Festival of Athens features an extensive retrospective of one of the most significant and influential artists. Lorenzo Mattotti was born in1954, Italy, and originally studied architecture. He began publishing comics in 1975, and in 1981 he co-founded the Valvoline group, publishing in ‘Frigidaire’ and ‘Alter Alter’. He later moved to France, where he was distinguished as a top comic creator and illustrator. His work has been published in Europe and America and he has illustrated the cover magazines for The New Yorker, Le Monde, and Suddeutsche Zeitung.
http://www.mattotti.com/
Miguelanxo Prado
Comics
Born in 1958 in La Coruna, Spain, Prado studied architecture, wrote novels and painted before becoming a successful comics creator. His style is characterized by subdued shades, a black sense of humor, social critique, and a surreal sentimentalism. His work is dream-like and paradoxical, depicting the grotesque of everyday life and the melancholy of routine. Prado’s stories have been published in Spain, France, Italy, and America.
http://www.miguelanxoprado.com/index.php?idIdi=3
Philippe Vuillemin
Comics
Philippe Vuillemin was born in 1958, in Marseille and began making short stories in 1977 in “l'Écho des Savanes”, “Hara-Kiri”, and “Charlie Mensuel”. He developed a “dirty” style in drawing and story-telling reaching a climax in the series “Sales Blagues” which he took over from the great Reiser in “l'Écho des Savanes”. His stories have enjoyed success and international acclaim.
