In anticipation of the 20th Italian Language Week in the World (October 19-25, 2020), with the theme of Italian Between Word and Image: Graffiti, Illustrations, Comic Books, this new exhibit takes us on a journey through comics in Italy.
After debuting as a medium for children (the historical magazine Il Corriere dei piccoli was founded in 1908), comics gradually expanded their audience, long remaining true to its popular vocation. At the beginning of the 1960s comics became more and more sophisticated, marking the definitive maturity of the medium, which nevertheless today still struggles to see its cultural relevance socially recognized. Despite the general unawareness, Italy became one of the world’s leading producers and is part of the restricted comics superpowers club.
The exhibit also includes an animated teaser, a video tour of the IIC Spazio Italia gallery and two exclusive interviews with the artists Davide Reviati and LRNZ, all the videos are available on our YouTube channel.
Animated exhibit teaser: https://youtu.be/xnSUH2uoyk8
Video tour: https://youtu.be/2FjIOTY0F-Q
Interview LRNZ: https://youtu.be/mLVlquyTuc0
Interview Davide Reviati: https://youtu.be/mGJ7swx_OdI
Lorenzo Ceccotti (aka LRNZ) in his interview discusses his inspiration and method of working with a particular interest in the relationship between sound and image. Ceccotti works in different fields of visual creativity: graphic design, motion graphics, animation, illustration and comics. He has founded the SUPERAMICI collective and BRUTUS / CHIMP CO. design studio, he has focused on his solo art career since 2006. He also teaches in several Industrial Design and Art schools in Italy (IED, SRF, ISIA).
Davide Reviati explores in his video his existential experiences and how they influence his work. He is an Italian cartoonist and illustrator (for il Manifesto, La Stampa, and L’Unità among others), and screenwriter. His graphic novel Morti di sonno (Coconino Press, 2009) won the 2010 Napoli Comic Con, and the dBD prize for best foreign comic for its French edition (Casterman 2011). Sputa tre volte (Spit Three Times) was published in Italy in 2016 after seven years of crafting story and illustrations.
Organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in Houston, Lucca Crea & Lucca Comics & Games, an International festival of comics, animation, illustration, games and TV held every fall in Lucca, Tuscany. Lucca Comics & Games is considered the most important event in its sector in Italy and Europe.
