The world of Igort on display at Palazzo Blu in Pisa, with original drawings of his greatest hits

From May 18 to September 10, 2023 Palazzo Blu in Pisa is hosting the exhibition Crossing Forms where the protagonist is the world of Igort. “Illustrator, cartoonist, painter, musician, director, publisher: Igort is among the most interesting intellectuals and artists of the contemporary scene, able to contaminate and unite with fantastic tales and realistic comics worlds and literary genres seemingly distant from each other in space and time, moving from Japan to Ukraine, from Naples to Bombay, from the United States to Russia. Comics become the poetic filter through which an acute reflection on artistic mediums and the meaning of History passes, engaging the reader in a tight visual and literary dialogue,” curator of the exhibition Giorgio Bacci, professor of Contemporary Art History at the University of Florence, describes it with these words.

“Given, therefore, the complexity and richness of Igort’s artistic career, the exhibition aims to return to the visitor, as far as possible, the variety and multiplicity of techniques, genres and styles adopted by Igort over the years: the noir of 5 is the perfect number, the gripping jazz atmosphere of Fats Waller, the alienating, dystopian yet topical scenes of Brillo. The War of the Eggs, to the intense plates of Japanese Notebooks, which take the viewer on a discovery of Japanese imagery,” the curator explains.

Original drawings from some of his greatest hits are on display, revolving around the many techniques the artist has dealt with over time and also the variety of writing genres with which he has measured himself.

Igort, the pseudonym of Igor Tuveri, born in Cagliari, Italy, on September 26, 1958, is today one of the best-known contemporary Italian artists, endowed with a multifaceted talent: not only a well-known and appreciated cartoonist whose stories are translated all over the world, but also an inventive and cultured director, a sought-after editor, an experimental musician, and much more. As the artist explains, “If I look back I see that I drew with all techniques: oil, acrylic, colored pencils, graphite, charcoal, chalks, watercolors, ecolines, Radiant watercolors, wax paints, enamels. And on all media, from glass to paper, smooth, porous, very porous, tracing paper, graph paper, to nylon sheets to the bright space of a computer screen.” The same argument applies to the genres: the reportage of the Notebooks (Japanese, Ukrainian, Russian), the detective-police story ofAlligator and Symphony in Bombay, the noir of 5 is the perfect number, the biographical of Fats Waller and Chandler’s Words. Mention should also be made of his illustrations and collaborations as a columnist and essayist with numerous periodicals and newspapers, from “La Repubblica” to “Il Manifesto,” from “Il Corriere della Sera” to “Vanity.” Igort was himself also the founder of magazines (“Dolce vita,” “Fuego,” “Due,” “Black”) and publishing houses dedicated to comics (Coconino Press and later Oblomov Edizioni).

The exhibition at Palazzo Blu aims to highlight a selection of original plates created for four works central to Igort’s artistic production: 5 is the Perfect Number, Fats Waller, Brillo. The War of the Eggs and The Japanese Notebooks. From 5 is the Perfect Number, a volume first published in 2002 and translated into fifteen countries, was based the film of the same name, whose performers include Toni Servillo, Valeria Golino and Carlo Buccirosso. 5 is the perfect number allows us to delve deeper into the noir side and open up, with its abrupt cuts and pressing pace of vision against an almost monochromatic background, to the cinematic milieu and the film of the same name. Fats Waller immerses the reader in a fascinating jazz atmosphere, recalling one of Igort’s passions, music precisely, which determines the syntactic structure of the volume. Brillo. The War of the Eggs functions as a hinge connecting distant universes, transporting and revisiting the character of Yuri in the Western world dominated by senseless warfare, seen through the dystopian lens of the German New Objectivity. Finally, the Japanese Notebooks invite reflection on the meeting of cultures and the logo-iconic language of comics, the result of the inseparable union of image and writing.

Crossing Forms is produced by Palazzo Blu with the support of the Pisa Foundation.

For info: palazzoblu.it

Hours: Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Image: Igort, Japanese Notebooks. Moga, mobo, monsters, Oblomov Editions, 2020. © Igort © Oblomov Edizioni - La Nave di Teseo.

The world of Igort on display at Palazzo Blu in Pisa, with original drawings of his greatest hits

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.