The life and art of Vincenzo Vela through two graphic novels: special event at the Vela Museum in Ligornetto

The Vincenzo Vela Museum in Ligornetto is dedicating a special event to publishing projects that have reread the life and work of the sculptor through the genre of the graphic novel published by the institution itself on the occasion of the bicentennial of the birth of Vincenzo Vela (Ligornetto, 1820 - Mendrisio, 1891).

OnSaturday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m., the two graphic novels, Ti chiamavano Cenzín, created by illustrator Hannes Binder and writer Alberto Nessi, and Il Cavo e il Pieno by Giuseppe Palumbo, will be presented at the museum venue. Two works by authors different in generation and artistic pursuit, but both inspired by the adventurous life of Vincenzo Vela and his powerful artistic work. The meeting with the authors, to be held at the museum on this date, is organized in collaboration with the ChiassoLetteraria Festival and is moderated by Sebastiano Marvin.

With Ti chiamavano Cenzín, released in bookstores last December, Ticino-based writer and poet Alberto Nessi, Swiss Literature Prize 2016, and Zurich-based illustrator Hannes Binder, known for the scraper technique, retrace the stages of Vela’s existence in the footsteps of one of his best-known works, The Victims of Labor. In contrast, Italian cartoonist Giuseppe Palumbo, illustrator of, for example, Diabolik and Martin Mystere, draws inspiration from Spartacus for the story of The Hollow and the Full, which deals with the sculptor’s battles and questions the relationship between art and power.

The two publications(Ti chiamavano Cenzín, in coedition with Edizioni Casagrande, and Il Cavo e il Pieno, in coedition with Marco Lucchetti Art Gallery - Lugano) are intended as a new stage in the Museo Vincenzo Vela’s publishing projects aimed at actualizing the work and cultural legacy of the Ticino sculptor. On the occasion of the bicentennial of the artist’s birth, the museum venue has reread the sculptor’s poetics and values through the eyes of contemporary artists. Poets (with the anthology in verse and prose Poets for Vincenzo Vela), writers and essayists (Jean Soldini and Matteo Terzaghi with the first two Libelli) grappled with the legacy of the sculptor’s thought and works.

In addition to these publications, there is the monumental Carteggio di Vincenzo Vela, published by the Canton of Ticino in the series Texts for the History of the Culture of Italian Switzerland.

Admission to the event is free.

About the authors

Born in Zurich in 1947, Hannes Binder is an illustrator and author of graphic novels made with the technique of mock engraving(scraper). He has translated masterpieces of Swiss literature into images, from Dürrenmatt to Keller to children’s classics such as Heidi, and works by Kafka, Böll, Glauser, and Enzensberger. He has illustrated, among others, The Black Brothers and Antonio Ligabue. His works have been nominated and awarded numerous times, including the Swiss Children’s and Young People’s Media Prize and the Hans Christian Andersen Prize, among others. Hannes Binder lives between the canton of Zurich and Ticino.

Born in Mendrisio in 1940 and raised in Chiasso, Alberto Nessi lives in the Muggio Valley. He is a poet and writer, who won the Swiss Literature Prize in 2016. His major works include the poems I giorni feriali (1969), Ai margini (1975), Rasoterra (1983), Il colore della malva (1992), Blu cobalto con cenere (2000), Ladro di minuzie (2010), and the prose works Terra matta (1984), Tutti descendono (1989), Fiori d’ombra (1997), La Lirica (1998), La prossima settimana, forse (2008), Milò (2014). He is also editor of Svizzera italiana (2017), which collects about fifteen literary walks through Italian-speaking Helvetia, from Mendrisiotto to Val Poschiavo.

Giuseppe Palumbo, born in Matera in 1964, began publishing comics in 1986 in Frigidaire and Cyborg magazines, on whose pages he created his best-known character, Ramarro. He then joined the staff of Martin Mystère (Sergio Bonelli Editore) and Diabolik (Astorina). He published the first essay of literary historical criticism in comics, The Helm and the Uprising. He has illustrated covers for Einaudi, Mondadori and Feltrinelli, and many others. He teaches drawing and comics at the International School of Comics in Florence. He lives in Bologna where he has his inventory studio.

Publications

They called you Cenzìn

Illustrations: Hannes Binder, text: Alberto Nessi.

Introduction: Gianna A. Mina and Roberta Cattaneo.

Biography of Vincenzo Vela edited by Maria Cristina Brunati

Vincenzo Vela Museum / Casagrande Editions;

52 pages, album (300 x 230 mm), CHF 32.

The Full and the Hollow

Illustrations and text: Giuseppe Palumbo

Afterword: Gianna A. Mina

Biography of Vincenzo Vela edited by Maria Cristina Brunati

Vincenzo Vela Museum / Marco Lucchetti Art Gallery - Lugano

60 pages, album (300 x 230), CHF 37.

Image: The cover of Ti chiamavano Cenzín

The life and art of Vincenzo Vela through two graphic novels: special event at the Vela Museum in Ligornetto

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