Monday, December 29, 2014

Artoon: Behzad Ghafarizadeh and Oleg Dergachov

Behzad Ghafarizadeh informed us about (t)his nice exhibition in Québec:


The Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec  will hold the exhibition of the cartoons and illustrations of Behzad Ghafarizadeh and Oleg Dergachov with title of Artoon (Art+Cartoon) from 8th Jan. to 8th Feb. 2015. The exhibition includes 50 cartoons and illustration of these two artists with different techniques.

Opening of the exhibition : January 8th, 2015 at 6:00 pm.
(The attachments are the exhibition poster, photo of the museum and some images of artists and their cartoons)



Oleg Dergachov

Oleg Dergachov was born on 18th July 1961 in Rostov, Russia. He graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts with Master in Arts degree in 1984. He has also studied bronze and granite sculpture from the INTEGRART in Warszaw, and through his studies with Walter Kaune, Phd, in Goslar, Germany.  In 2005 he moved with his family to Canada. He had over 20 personal cartoon exhibitions in 13 countries. Many of his works are parts of major international public collections such as the National British Library in London, the Georges Pompidou National Center for Art and Culture in Paris, the Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow and the collection of Cirque du Soleil in Canada. His artworks have been awarded in many important international cartoon competitions such as Aydin Dogan (2005), Nasreddin Hoja (2000), Youmiuri (1998-1995) and more than 60 other competitions.






Behzad Ghafarizadeh


Behzad Ghafarizadeh was born in September 1983 in Tehran/Iran. He graduated from University of Tehran in 2009 with Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering. He and his wife moved to Montreal in 2011 In order to continue their education. Currently, he is PhD candidate in mechanical engineering department of École de technologie supérieure (Université du Québec).In 2006, his first individual cartoon exhibition was held in the “Iranian House of Cartoon” in Tehran. His works have already been exhibited in many international cartoon exhibitions and published in many cartoon books. His cartoons also are awarded in many important cartoon competitions such as Global Editorial Cartoon competition (2012),  Diogenes, Taborda festival (2009), Medplan (2014) and etc.





contact:

Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec
615, avenue Sainte-Croix
Saint-Laurent circumscription
Montreal Qc H4L 3X6

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Merry X-Mas! A Rockabilly X-Mas!

Wishing all our readers a Merry X-Mas!

I found a nice clip of one of my favourite bands Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The song is a "Rockabilly Christmas" and in the first minute of the video some  nice Santa cartoons appear...



Lyrics:

Well, Santa's got his hair all piled high
Swingin' his sleigh right through the sky
For the Christmas, Rockabilly Christmas
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat

Santa's got his creepers red and green
Swingin' his sleigh while the kiddies dream
For the Christmas, Rockabilly Christmas
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat

Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat

Santa's got his hair all piled high
Swingin' his sleigh while the kiddies cry
For the Christmas, Rockabilly Christmas
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat

T'was the night before Christmas
And all through the land
All the cats were jumpin' to a big swing band.
Way past midnight till a quarter of two
Jumpin' to the sounds of Big Bad Voodoo.
As the singer explains steppin' up to the mic
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat

Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat Yeah.

Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas
Rock rock rockabilly Christmas

He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat
He's a real cool cat with shades and his old red hat
Merry Christmas Baby!

ps: and don't forget Rudolph!


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

The first cartoons of George van Raemdonck (1988-1966)

George van Raemdonck may be considered as one of the first Flemish ambassadors of cartoon art. In 1914, the artist fled, as many other Belgians,  with his family to The Netherlands where he was engaged by De Nieuwe Amsterdammer to publish his satirical drawings.



George followed the news of the war on foot. Although he was not in the middle of the action, he showed the different events of the Great War as an excellent observer: from the Big Bertha (howitzer), the Wire of Death (between Belgium and Holland), the Armenian Genocide to the famine and poor life in occupied Belgium... nothing escaped his sharp pen.

100 years after the beginning of WWI, this books wants to commemorate not only the great artist that George van Raemdonck was, but also the circumstances of the millions of refugees 100 years ago and at the present time.

Enjoy some of the cartoons (special thanks to Ronald Vanoystaeyen for the images):

Big Bertha

The Dutch- Belgian border

What shall we eat?

for the potatoes...

X-Mas 1917



The books is published by the city council of Bouchout Belgium ,I.H.A. and the local history society Het Speelhof. It counts 80 pages, containing 75 cartoons is still available at € 15 + shipping cost. Please send an email to Ronald Vanoystaeyen, president of International Humour Art: iha@yucom.be.

Learn more:
George van Raemdonck's Facebook page
more about George van Raemdonck

Saturday, December 6, 2014

6 December: Sinterklaas! (in Belgium and The Netherlands) .Some Sinterklaas cartoons

To all children.. Happy Sinterklaas!

And to all the rest: here are some Sinterklaas cartoons from "De Beste Cartoons van Sinterklaas"(Belgium, 1980). The cartoons in the book were published in the Belgian newspapers De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad and The Gentenaar in favor of The Sinterklaasfonds, a fund rising organisation for disabled children.



cartoon by Cram

cartoon by Luk Cooke

cartoon by the famous Willy Vandersteen (1913-1990)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sinterklaas (Dutch pronunciation: [sɪntər'klaːs]) or Sint-Nicolaas (Dutch pronunciation: [sɪnt 'nikolaːs]  is a traditional figure based on Saint Nicholas. Other names for the figure include De Sint ("The Saint"), De Goedheiligman ("The Good Holy Man"), and De Goede Sint ("The Good Saint") in Dutch; Saint-Nicolas in French; Sinteklaas in Frisian; and Kleeschen and Zinniklos in Luxembourgish.

Sinterklaas is celebrated annually with the giving of gifts on the night before Saint Nicholas Day (5 December) in the Netherlands and on the morning of 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day itself, in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Northern France (French Flanders, Lorraine and Artois). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao.

He is one of the sources of the popular Christmas icon of Santa Claus.

Learn more about Sinterklaas here.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

International Cartoonfestival Knokke-Heist 2014 catalogue

Since 34 years now I receive the Knokke-Heist catalogue (ISBN 9789059085695) at about this time of year.



It's an opportunity to see the most recent evolution in gag cartooning. Which cartoonists have a cartoon published? Who won a prize? How good are the cartoons? These are questions I always question myself.
What strikes me more and more is the use of Photoshopped cartoons. Some cartoons have a real digital look. To be honest, not my piece of cake, but who am I to judge.  Am I old school?

 


Fortunately, most cartoonists stick to the ancient art of drawing and painting, with only a little touch of Photoshop...

A quick selection: old school versus digital?

















Learn more:
cartoonfestival Knokke-Heist.be
more Knokke cartoon festival on our blog



Sunday, November 23, 2014

Quino

I've posted some Quino articles earlier on this blog, but I'm still amazed by the astounding humor of the artist. Quino cartoons have a Buster Keaton-esque quality... Study the cartoons below and you'll notice Quino understands as no other the behaviour of mankind...








Saturday, November 15, 2014

Cliche, cliche, cliche... tribute to The Desert Island Cartoon

Cliche, cliche, cliche... the desert island cartoon has been overused. But it still arouses my curiosity.
Can a desert island cartoon still be funny? Can one be creative with desert island cartoons?  Are there new funny  island situations to draw? How funny are desert island cartoons? What kind of desert island cartoons exist?

For that reason I created the facebook page Desert Island Cartoons . The page wants to pay tribute to the cartoonists who were creative with the island and the palm tree. I will post fun desert island cartoons on a regular base. But you can help.
 Please post the desert island cartoons you know on the facebook page and share.

Don't forget to mention the name of the cartoonist, the publication and the publication year if you know it. I prefer caption less cartoons. These are the most creative.  Have fun and enjoy the world of desert island cartoons.

Please like the facebook page Desert Island Cartoons...




Wednesday, November 5, 2014

International Salon of Cartoons Montreal

1020 pages. The catalogue of the 22nd International Salon of Cartoons (Montreal Canada) is one of thickest books in my collection. Compared with some other catalogues of the contest, the 1985 species is obvious THE thickest, but other years publications aren't thin at all. The competition started in 1964 and ended probably in 1988 was the last year of this memorable contest. There is a list of the winners on WittyWorld. I couldn't find more info on the  internet.

The catalogues are in black and white. Many famous cartoonists were selected for the catalogue over the years...







Some nice cartoons I found in the  22nd edition:




Writing Bull

Monday, October 27, 2014

Cartoon books presentation in The Cartoonist

TheCartoonist.be informed us about some brand new Belgian cartoon books:

"On the 31th of October 2014 at 19h, the new books of our cartoonists will be presented at gallery The Cartoonist attended by the cartoonists and H.R.H. Prince Laurent. Original drawings of the new books will be sold."

Marec: Leve Selfië – Van Halewyck
Kroll: Le Grand Vingtième – Renaissance du Livre
dubus: Blackout - Renaissance du Livre
Johan De Moor et Gilles Dal: Coeur Glacé - Le Lombard
Kim: La Muse de dessus - Oogachtend 

Learn more:


Monday, October 20, 2014

CARTOONS Without Words - by Luc Vernimmen

It's always a great pleasure to attend a book presentation. If it's a brand new cartoon book,it's an even bigger pleasure. Yesterday I was invited at Luc Vernimmen's cartoon book presentation and cartoon exhibition in Antwerp (Belgium). Luc is a Belgian cartoonist and graphic artist with an impressive list of national and international awards on his behalf, including major prizes at the Knokke Heist Cartoon Festival and that of Kruishoutem. The book contains a selection of his award winning cartoons from the past ten years.


I way pleased in 3 ways.

First of all: the location. Luc lives in Antwerp, in a district called Zurenborg. In the southern part of this district you find many of the most beautiful art nouveau houses in Belgium. Especially the Cogels Osylei (lei = street),  where the event took place in number 73 - Zaal 7 is a pleasure to walk through.

Lovers of architecture should watch this YouTube slide show of the houses I talk about. Before the event I took some time to walk around and enjoy the buildings...



The exhibition, Cogels Osylei nr. 73.

Luc Vernimmen




Second: the introduction. After a fine classical concert by the Helix Strijkkwartet  (with Luc's son Jeroen playing violin), mr. Marc Schillemans, a friend of Luc, actor and director, gave a more then outstanding speech about the meaning, the respect and the praise of the cartoon, the cartoonist and the cartoon book. Congratulations Marc! This was one of the best essays about cartoons I ever heard.


Marc Schillemans - great speech!

Third:The cartoons. Last but not least it must be said that the cartoons are excellent. All just little colourful paintings. This is something you have to figure out for yourself of course... take a look at Luc's website to enjoy more of his cartoons.




21 cm x 21 cm, 80 cartoons, 82 pages, full color, soft cover:




Learn more:
www.lucvernimmen.be
Buy the book
Luc Vernimmen : bio