Below's the interview:
1. I started reading short stories of Guido Crepax when I was a child at Linus Italian magazine and later on Charlie Mensuel. His drawings were gorgeous and the stories were amazing and often put me on a state of daydreaming. Was he a man full of dreams and did he transmitted those dreams to you?
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| Charlie Mensuel nº 95 (1976) |
Guido Crepax family: Nostro padre era un sognatore, ma, come ha detto di lui un'amica giornalista, anche una persona molto pragmatica e determinata. Stava tutto il giorno chiuso nel suo studio, completamente preso nei suoi pensieri e nelle sue fantasie, ma anche concentrato sulla necessità di tradurle in una storia ben costruita e splendidamente disegnata. Il suo senso pratico lo faceva essere sempre puntuale nelle consegne e lo ha aiutato a realizzare i suoi sogni. Con noi e con nostra madre condivideva diverse fasi dell'ideazione creativa e prendeva spunto anche dalle nostre fantasie e dai nostri sogni ma non ci ha mai incoraggiato a seguire il suo percorso professionale. Quello che ci ha lasciato è sicuramente un modo alternativo di vedere la realtà e di approfondire i particolari che a volte sono più importanti dell'insieme.
Answers in English:
Guido Crepax family: Our father was a dreamer, but, like he told to a journalist friend, but at the same time, he was a very determined and pragmatic man. He was all day in his study, completely taken in his thoughts and in his fantasies, but also focused on the need to translate them into a story well built and drawn. His practical sense made him to be always on time delivery and helped him to realize his dreams. With us and with our mother he shared different steps of idealization and creative, and he also took from our fantasies and dreams, but we were never encouraged by him to follow his career. What we have left is an alternative way of seeing reality and delve into the details that sometimes are more important than the whole.
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| Louise Brooks |
2. Guido Crepax works are very visual and on my opinion, they can be read on several languages quite easy over the graphics and the artistic design of them. I know that he did thousands and thousands of pages with Valentina, Bianca, Belinda and Anita among several stories adapted by Edgar Allan Poe, on the Casanova myth, The man of Harlem, Marquis de Sade, Emmanuelle and stories clearly influenced by Film noir (I remember his short stories of Bonnie and Clyde for example) and La belle époque with Louise Brooks (In Portugal we had Beatriz Costa) as a sort of inspiration for Valentina. Was he a man that relied deeply in culture and its many aspects and how did you as his family saw him with all the knowledge that he had and that he always put on his drawings and narrative?
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| Beatriz Costa |
Guido Crepax family: Le storie a fumetti di nostro padre sono sempre state considerate "colte", difficili e ricche di contenuti culturali. Forse troppo per dei fumetti. Oggi più di allora il lavoro esegetico che stiamo facendo sulla sua opera ci ha portato a scoprire un bagaglio culturale sempre più ricco e vario. Ne sono una prova le ultime edizioni pubblicate da Magazzini Salani con le principali storie di Valentina arricchite da note che aiutano il lettore e hanno lo stesso valore dei contenuti speciali dei film in DVD. Molti di questi contenuti derivano direttamente dal suo background famigliare e da tutte le persone che frequentava: amici ma anche artisti, giornalisti, scrittori, fotografi, musicisti e cineasti. Umberto Eco, Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Fo, Claudio Abbado, Emilio Tadini e Ugo Mulas tanto per fare qualche nome. Un terreno fertile nella Milano degli anni '60 e '70, per un nuovo modo di fare fumetti elevandoli a forma di arte contemporanea.
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Guido Crepax family: The stories of our father have always been considered as a cult, complex and with a rich and cultural content. Maybe too much for comics. Today more than ever the exegetical work that we are doing on his work led us to discover a cultural increasingly rich and varied. The latest editions published by Magazzini Salani with the main stories of Valentina enriched with our notes that help the reader and have the same value of the special features of DVD movies, are an example of this. Many of these contents come directly from his family background and all the people who attended: friends as well as artists, journalists and writers, photographers, musicians and filmmakers. Umberto Eco, Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Fo, Claudio Abbado, Emilio Tadini and Ugo Mulas just to name a few. In the fertile ground in Milan of the '60s and '70s, a new way of doing comics elevate them to the form of contemporary art.
3. I've seen on several interviews and videos that the character Valentina was inspired on her wife and that dreamy subject of Valentina stories were often connected with some myths such as Baba Yaga. Was he a man that loved world History and its myths and passed this to the family while portraying the stories on Valentina?
Guido Crepax family: Era appassionato di storia, favole, miti e leggende. Non era credente ma comunque curioso dei misteri, l'occulto e il proibito. Curiosità che abbiamo sicuramente assimilato anche se in maniera diversa uno dall'altro e che si è in parte riversata anche nel nostro lavoro e nelle nostre passioni e gusti culturali: il cinema, la letteratura e la pittura. Quella stessa curiosità che ci permette oggi di costruire le mostre che gli abbiamo dedicato, cercando di ricreare i suoi ambienti e le sue atmosfere avvolgendo il visitatore in una sorta di grande messa in scena a fumetti, molto pop e ricca di sorprese.Guido Crepax family: He had a passion for history, fables, myths and legends. he was not a believer but still was curious of the mysteries, the occult and the forbidden. Curiosity that we have assimilated even though in a different manner from each other and that it was partly reversed in our work and in our cultural tastes and passions: cinema, literature and painting. That same curiosity that allows us to create the exhibits that we have dedicated to him, trying to recreate its environment and its atmosphere surrounding the visitor in a sort of great comic stage, very pop and full of surprises.
4. I remember reading Bianca and the erotic aspect of her was full of glamour with the clear line that he used on his drawings. Was Bianca a sort of inspiration for him to adapt such works as: Emmanuelle, Story of O (that I think's based on a Portuguese story), Venus in furs and Casanova? How did the family dealt with this erotic aspect of him and how did you feel at the time knowing that he was spreading all over the world lots of 'forbidden' stories? Was it a shock for people at the time?Guido Crepax family: Bianca é come Valentina una sua creazione originale, forse quella con cui ha potuto esprimera più liberamente le sue immaginazioni e i turbamenti. Non a caso diceva che il pennino era il suo psicanalista e l'inchiostro il magma interiore, grazie al quale esprimere non solo quello che voleva dire ma anche i suoi pensieri più inconfessabili. Histoire d'O, Emmanuelle, Venere in pelliccia, rimangono, pur nella libertà della sua versione a fumetti, delle precise ricostruzioni dei romanzi originari con ambientazioni e costumi ricostruiti con estremo rigore stilistico e storico. Vivendo nella stessa casa dove lui creava e disegnava le sue storie abbiamo vissuto con estrema naturalezza i loro contenuti erotici. Le stesse cose avrebbero creato non pochi turbamenti e imbarazzi nei suoi lettori e nei suoi editori. Era timido e riservato ma al tempo stesso esibizionista e amava scandalizzare anche se poi lui stesso si è stupito di quello che aveva disegnato.
Guido Crepax family: Bianca is like Valentina, an original character created by him, perhaps the one with which he could more freely express his imagination and anxiety. Not surprisingly he said that the pen was his psychoanalyst and the ink the interior magma, due to which he expressed what he meant but also his unmentionable thoughts. Histoire d'O, Emmanuelle, Venus in Furs, remain, even in the freedom of his comic version, some precise reconstructions of the original novels with settings and costumes reconstructed with great historical and stylistic severity. Living in the same house where he created and drew his stories; we have lived with extreme ease their erotic content. The same things would have created many troubles and embarrassments in its readers and its publishers. He was shy and private but at the same time exhibitionist and he loved to shock even though he was amazed at himself over what he drew at the time.
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| Belinda |
5. Belinda was another character that I remember reading from him and at the time, I saw her as a sort of continuation for Valentina. Do you thought at the time that he was tired of drawing and writing over Valentina?
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| Belinda |
Guido Crepax family: Yes, periodically he felt the need to "betray" Valentina with other women that were very different from her. This depended on his particular choice in the world of comics to age his character with him. It was a bond fascinating but, at the same time, almost stifling and pervasive. Belinda is the whole weight of the world of pop music that he knew through his brother Franco, manager of record. His adventures are funnier than the saga of Valentina who is also playful but also filled with mystery, feelings, fears, troubles.
6. I also remember seeing his works on several languages on several books from all around the world. Did you as family saw him at the time as an universal man?
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| Historia de O - versão portuguesa |
Guido Crepax family: His attitude, even when he faced with a growing international reputation, has never changed. Traveling little, he preferred to continue to tell new stories, rather than "capitalize" this success. The foreign editions of his books filled him with pride but he never thought of transferring his assets abroad which has maintained strong roots in reality and in the Milanese culture rather than Italian. On the other hand, in those years, our city was certainly the most European, culturally vibrant and full of artists who had success in the rest of the world.
Guido Crepax family: Anche se il fumetto era divenuta ben presto la sua attività principale, egli non ha mai abbandonato le altre attività che avevano contribuito a renderlo famoso: le copertine dei dischi, le illustrazioni per i giornali e la grafica pubblicitaria. Non dimentichiamo che in quegli anni la pubblicità italiana poteva contare su numerosi artisti e professionisti che amavano esprimersi con questo strumento. La cultura e l'arte pop del resto avevano sdoganato questa forma di comunicazione che poteva contare su grandi risorse creative, immaginarie, surreali ed estetiche che ben si amalgamavano con i prodotti dell'emergente made in Italy del boom economico. Prime fra tutte la moda e il design. Egli si sentiva parte di questo mondo che gli consentiva di vivere e di fare quello che gli piaceva, mescolando l'arte con queste nuove forme di linguaggio, considerate altrettanto importanti e meritevoli dello stesso impegno creativo.
Guido Crepax family: Although comics were his main job, he has never abandoned the other activities that had helped to make him famous: the covers, illustrations for newspapers and advertising graphics. Don't forget that in those years the Italian advertising could count on many artists and professionals who loved to express themselves with this tool. The culture and pop art had elevated this form of communication that could count on great creative, imaginary, surreal and aesthetic resources, that are well amalgamated with the products of the emerging Italian economic boom. First of all fashion and design. He felt part of this world that allowed him to live and to do what he liked, mixing art with these new forms of language, considered equally important and deserving of the same creative effort.
8. Anita was a powerful character as well and it had a strange appeal (different from Valentina, Bianca or Belinda). Seemed to me a more independent character with a great personality, less dreamy and more based on reality. Did he often balanced dreams and reality?
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Guido Crepax family: Anita è la figlia delle nascenti nevrosi di quegli anni, spesso legate all'avvento di nuovi strumenti tecnologici che oggi sono diventati normali. Allora la televisione, il telecomando, il telefono e il computer pur essendo percepiti come una possibile facilitazione della vita quotidiana erano anche visti con sospetto e timori legati alla possibile dipendenza e perdita della libertà che aveva caratterizzato gli anni precedenti. Un personaggio e storie ricche di incubi e immaginazioni, ma al tempo stesso spietatamente realiste e visionarie di quello che sarebbe accaduto più tardi. Spesso la sua capacità di anticipare le cose si è manifestata in diversi campi sia per quanto riguarda il contenuto narrativo che per quanto riguarda quello visuale.
Guido Crepax family: Anita is the daughter of the nascent neurosis of those years, often linked to the advent of new technological tools that today have become normal. Television, remote control, telephone and computer while being perceived as a possible facilitation of daily life were also viewed with suspicion and fears over the possible dependence and loss of freedom that had characterized previous years. A character and stories rich of nightmares and imaginations, but at the same time realistic and visionary of what would happen later. Often its ability to anticipate things is manifested in various fields as regards both the narrative content that regard the visual.
9. Why do you think that Crepax used mostly female characters on his stories? Did he saw women as a mystery and wanted to show his readers the complexity of the female aspect?Guido Crepax family: Sì, era maggiormente attratto dagli aspetti contraddittori presenti nella psicologia femminile. L'idea di creare e identificarsi in una giovane donna è stata un sua sfida e un escamotage per stimolare l'attenzione del pubblico. Inizialmente le donne hanno vissuto con un po' di sospetto questa sua scelta, ritenendo che un uomo non possa capire fino in fondo e rappresentare una donna. Poi Valentina è stata accettata pur nella sua ambivalenza di caratteri maschili che convivono con caratteri femminili, come del resto accede in molte donne reali. Forse più oggi che negli anni Sessanta.
Guido Crepax family: Yes, it was more attracted by the contradictory aspects in the psychology of women. The idea to create and identify himself with a young woman has been a challenge and a way to stimulate readers attention. Initially women have lived with a little suspect this proposal, believing that a man cannot fully understand and represent a woman. Then Valentina was accepted despite its ambivalence of male characters who live together with female characters, like it happens in many real women. Perhaps more today that in the sixties.
Guido Crepax family (Antonio Crepax): Ho sempre vissuto mio padre come un compagno di giochi (ne realizzava per la famiglia con la nostra collaborazione) e come ispiratore di fantasie, ideali di vita, passioni. Ho imparato le cose che adesso contano per me grazie al suo esempio e alla sua presenza discreta. E' stato sicuramente un problema il fatto che anch'io amassi disegnare e fossi naturalmente dotato, tanto che ho preferito esprimermi e lavorare con la scrittura.
Guido Crepax family (Antonio Crepax): I have always considered my father a playfellow (beautiful table games which carried out for the family with our cooperation) and an inspirer of fantasies, ideals and passions. I learned things that now matter to me thanks to his example and his discreet presence. When I was still a teenager, it was a problem that even I loved to draw and I was naturally gifted, so much so that I decided to express myself and work with writing.
Guido Crepax family (Giacomo Crepax): Mio padre, contrariamente a quanto si pensa, era una persona molto tranquilla che amava stare a casa e vivere in maniera piena la routine quotidiana della famiglia. La musica era la sua compagna di tutti i giorni che si diffondeva discreta in ogni angolo della casa. Questo, insieme alla sua voglia di renderti partecipe del suo lavoro senza frapporre alcun filtro, lo rendeva agli occhi di un figlio, prima bambino e poi adulto, un punto di riferimento essenziale. Anch’io, come del resto i miei fratelli, amo disegnare e ho voluto fare l’ architetto, come lo era mio padre, forse per poter ritrovare quella magica tranquillità creativa che avevo vissuto durante la mia infanzia. Giacomo Crepax
Guido Crepax family (Giacomo Crepax): Contrary to popular belief, my father was a very quiet person who loved to stay at home and to live the daily routine of the family. Everyday the music was his companion, wafting discreet in every corner of the house. This, coupled with his desire to make you a sharer of his work without interposing any filter, made him to the eyes of a child, first child and then adult, an essential point of reference. Like my brothers, even I love to draw and I wanted to do the architect, as was my father, perhaps to find that magical creative tranquility that I had experienced during my childhood.
Guido Crepax family (Caterina Crepax): I think I look like my father in the way of being a little shy but, at the same time, exhibitionist especially in my work. I do things that stand out in a different way , not because it shocked or upset but because they are the result of great imagination and dexterity, what he passed me: stubbornness, a desire to impress with our artistic skills , great freedom of expression and limitless imagination. Although I loved too draw, I use the drawing as a tool and not as a means of expression and prefer to create paper sculptures that are in a sense three-dimensional drawings, probably inspired by the characters of his table games, expertly cut in cardboard. Our relationship was often silent, I watched him, as he worked without speaking, but his constant presence in the house and the fact that we were children in some way, through his pen , walked into his comics , it has created a strong link close between us. Not surprisingly, each of us three brothers, each with his personality, skill and inclination, we work with passion to maintain and especially to develop of the great legacy he has left us. Caterina Crepax
11. Crepax's works were always mixed with glamour and even with fashion throughout the ages. On his works, one can see lots of references to la belle époque, the sixties, the Seventies and even the eighties. Was Guido Crepax a man that tried to portray the various aspects of fashion and style?Guido Crepax family: Nostro padre era innanzitutto un esteta, un amante della "messa in scena", un pignolo ricostruttore di ambientazioni e costumi, e un attento cronista della moda e delle tendenze del suo tempo. Valentina doveva essere sempre vestita con abiti alla moda, come quelli che si potevano vedere nelle riviste specializzate come Elle e Vogue: prima quelli della moda francese degli anni '60 e '70 (Paco Rabanne, Dior e Ives Saint Laurent) e poi la grande moda italiana degli anni '80 (Armani, Krizia, Missoni, Valentino). Le ricostruzioni delle romanzi dell'Ottocento e del primo Novecento, sono dei veri e propri cataloghi di tutti gli stili applicati alla moda, al design, all'architettura. Ma anche quando ricrea un mondo fantastico, armature, astronavi e oggetti hanno forme che vengono dal passato e sono da lui originalmente trasposti in situazioni futuristiche (come le armature rinascimentali nello spazio).
12. I also remember seeing Pola X by Leos Carax and I think that this director was clearly influenced on Guido Crepax works. Do you think that this movie as a sort of homage to Guido Crepax?
Guido Crepax family: We have never seen this movie and do not know well how to express an opinion on the association that you do. We can, however, be remembered that the cinema has been a constant reference in the production of our father who has repeatedly cited his favorite directors, their moods, to inventing a narrative style by many defined a movie style. In a recent interview, the famous italian director Bernardo Bertolucci said: "I enjoyed a lot that Crepax was strong influenced by Godard and Valentina was like Anna Karina in" Vivre Sa Vie ". Crepax job it's like an interpretation of Godard. "
13. It was also made a 'Valentina' movie, was it difficult to you turning the images and words of your father into a movie?
Guido Crepax family: Questo stretto rapporto con il cinema non ha contribuito al fatto che si riuscisse a fare un buon film ispirato alle storie di Valentina. I tentativi realizzati negli anni '70 ("Baba Yaga" di Corrado Farina) e '80 ("Valentina", la serie televisiva con Demetra Hampton) sono riusciti solo in parte a rappresentarne le atmosfere e gli aspetti erotici e surreali. Stiamo ancora aspettando la proposta di un regista di grande personalità e originalità (potrebbe essere Quentin Tarantino che sappiamo essere un suo ammiratore) anche se bisognerebbe comunque scegliere uno dei tanti filoni narrativi che lui ha sviluppato e si rischierebbe di non riuscire a riprodurne la complessità.
Guido Crepax family: This close relationship with the cinema did not contribute to the fact that you can find a good movie inspired by the stories of Valentina. The attempts made in the 70s ("Baba Yaga" by Corrado Farina) and 80 ("Valentina", the television series with Demetra Hampton) have succeeded only in part to represent the atmosphere, the erotic and surreal aspects of her stories. We're still waiting for the proposal of a director with a great personality and originality (maybe Quentin Tarantino who -we know- is a Crepax fan), although, you should still choose one of the many narrative strands that he has developed and there is the risk of not being able to reproduce his complexity.
14. Can you please tell us a bit of how was your father as a man, a man of family and an human being and how he saw the world?
Guido Crepax family: Nostro padre era molto attaccato alla sua famiglia da cui ha tratto molte delle sue ispirazioni. Era un uomo molto riservato, tollerante delle diversità e ha sempre simpatizzato per i partiti della sinistra, prestando spesso la propria arte alle giuste cause. Nonostante i tanti riferimenti e l'appartenenza a una cultura elitaria, borghese, era un uomo naturalmente democratico, amante dell'uguaglianza e disponibile con tutti. Nonostante la presenza di violenze e abusi disegnati nelle sue tavole, nel mondo reale era assolutamente un non violento e detestava ogni sopraffazione e abuso di potere.Guido Crepax family: Our father was very close to his family that gave him many of his inspirations. He was a very private man, tolerant of diversity and he has always sympathized with the left-wing parties, often giving his art to good causes. Despite the many references and membership in a cultural elite, middle class, he was a convinced democratic man, lover of equality and helpful for everyone. Despite the presence of violence and abuse in its artworks, in the real world was absolutely a non-violent person and he hated every oppression and abuse of power.
