Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Exhibition of iconic comics character Valentina and other works by Guido Crepax with his sons at Beja comics con 2014 with the support of Invicta Indie Arts

Exhibition - Valentina by Guido Crepax with Antonio and Caterina Crepax
Invicta Indie Arts



























While I was planning on doing this work, several ideas appeared on my mind, like making a great homage to Guido Crepax works, characters and stories on my country at Beja comics con of this year and it was amazing seeing this dream come true.

Valentina, Bianca, Anita and Belinda were characters that filled my mind with dreams and dreams since I was a little child, when I read their stories at Linus and Charlie mensuel. I know that the erotic aspect of the characters influenced me as well, but I saw them as art made way ahead of their time by the hand and mind of Guido Crepax.



Exhibition of Guido Crepax - Valentina
with the support of Invicta Indie Arts
for Beja comics con 2014









All the feminine characters were free and with dreams while being female and this was amazing at the time and still is nowadays on the XXI century. Even now when I read or see a drawing by Crepax with this character one can see the influence that he gave to lots of artists like Jim Steranko among many others.

I know that Hugo Pratt really admired Guido Crepax like other artists did (like you can read on the interview that I made to Crepax family on this blogue).

It was an hard work but I loved doing it since I was moved by dreams.

Antonio and Caterina told to the audience at Beja on a conversation with me and Brazilian artist Sama (a video that soon will be posted on youtube with parts of it) that his father when was doing literary adaptations from writers such as: George Bataille, Sacher Masoch, Franz Kafka, Edgar Allan Poe, Karen Blixen, Marquis de Sade, Mary Shelley among many others, that their father didn't made only an adaptation, he put more plot and story into the books that he read on prose.


Exhibition of Guido Crepax - Valentina - Invicta Indie Arts 
Exhibition of Guido Crepax -
Valentina - Invicta Indie Arts



Exhibition of Guido Crepax - Valentina and Dracula  - Invicta Indie Arts 

Tributes to Guido Crepax
Valentina
- Invicta Indie Arts


Exhibition of Guido Crepax
Valentina
and Tributes
Invicta Indie Arts



Exhibition of Guido Crepax - Valentina  and the artists that made tributes Tiago Araujo and Sama - Invicta Indie Arts 



They also told me that he imagined on his mind games with historical battles from Napoleon to the Czars and that he made them physically and gave them to his children to play, so when we see Valentina with armours and hats, we see Crepax's mind in action putting his characters with the history itself.

Exhibition of Guido Crepax - Valentina - Invicta Indie Arts


He was also really fond of fables and tales and another thing that Antonio and Caterina told me was that their mother: Luisa Crepax created a language for the men from the subterraneans at Valentina stories based on german language that she learned at school mixed with her own vision of how german sounded to her.

It was excellent seeing Guido Crepax works since 1965 and in huge format and all his cinematic skills and chiaroscuro technique and how he released all his characters from the boxes that usually (and at that time even more) "trap" the stories on a frame.  His pages were really free and we could see on them, lots of freedom on the story and pace while reading them and on our minds with his style of drawing we could imagine lots of music on it.

Portugal has a nice exhibition of Guido Crepax works with 18 originals with his characters: Valentina, Bianca, Anita, Belinda and some pages of his literary adaptations at Beja comics con 2014 and you can see there an avant garde man.


Exhibition of Guido Crepax
Valentina and literary adaptations
Invicta Indie Arts


Exhibition of Guido Crepax - Valentina - Invicta Indie Arts 

Exhibition of Guido Crepax - Valentina with Tiago Araujo and musician Sérgio Rocha - Invicta Indie Arts 

Meeting at Beja with Brazilian artist -  Klevisson Viana, Antonio Crepax, Francesca Burnati, Brazilian artist - Sama, Me and Portuguese artist - Tiago Araújo 

Conversation with me, Caterina and Antonio Crepax about the works of Guido Crepax at Beja comics con 2014 with the support of Invicta Indie Arts


Conversation with me, Sama, Caterina and Antonio Crepax about the works of Guido Crepax at Beja comics con 2014 with the support of Invicta Indie Arts



Conversation with me, Sama, Caterina and Antonio Crepax over the works of Guido Crepax at Beja comics con 2014 with the support of Invicta Indie Arts

Lots of tributes were made to Valentina by portuguese artists that can also be seen there like Tiago Araújo, Derradé, Diogo Carvalho, Ricardo Drumond, Sérgio Rocha, Osvaldo Medina and the company Lama - Escriptorio Graphico. Brazilian ones such as Sama, Klevisson Viana and Cayman Moreira.

Italians such as Sergio Toppi, Mastantuono, Pasquale Frisenda and Adriano de Vicentis. A mexican one: Tony Sandoval and an english one: David Lloyd. To all of them I give my heart felt thanks.



Me and Antonio Crepax - Beja 2014


Me and Antonio Crepax - Beja 2014


Me and Antonio Crepax - Beja 2014


Me and Caterina Crepax


My text for Beja 2014 catalogue
signed by Antonio and Caterina Crepax

Invicta Indie Arts


My text for Valentina exhibition by Guido Crepax
at Beja 2014 - Invicta Indie Arts



Signed poster by all artists that made a tribute to Valentina by Guido Crepax for Beja comics con 2014 - Diogo Carvalho, Ricardo Drumond, Derradé, Osvaldo Medina, Sama, Tiago Araujo, Sérgio Rocha and myself with the support of Invicta Indie Arts


Signings by Antonio and Caterina Crepax - Beja 2014


Tribute to Guido Crepax Literary adaptation
by LAMA - Escriptorio Graphico - Venus
in Furs from Guido Crepax at Beja comics con 2014
with the support of Invicta
Indie Arts


Tribute to Valentina by Guido Crepax by David Lloyd - V for Valentina - (Paul Gravett idea)


Tribute to Valentina by Guido Crepax by portuguese artist Sérgio Rocha and Derradé, italian artist Mastrantuonoat Beja comics con 2014 with the support of Invicta Indie Arts

Tribute to Valentina by Guido Crepax from the magnificent David Lloyd - V for Valentina (Paul Gravett idea)


Tribute to Valentina by Guido Crepax
from Tony Sandoval


Tribute to Valentina by
Portuguese artist - Derradé


Valentina exhibition  by Guido Crepax with Antonio and Caterina CrepaxInvicta Indie Arts

Valentina exhibition by Guido Crepax with Caterina CrepaxInvicta Indie Arts


Valentina exhibition by Guido Crepax with  Caterina Crepax, me and musician Sérgio Rocha - Invicta Indie Arts



Venus in Furs - by Guido Crepax inspired on the novel from Sacher MasochInvicta Indie Arts

Huge thanks also to Paul Gravett for all the support that he gave me (even having his mother at the hospital) and with his "V for valentina" idea, to Luisa Sequeira, Sama, Lama-Escriptorio Graphico, André Azevedo and Tiago Araújo for all the support; to Sérgio Rocha once again over making music for Guido Crepax exhibition, to Paulo Monteiro for helping put my ideas on practise at Beja Comics con that is one of the best comic cons in the world, to my wife and princess Paula Fonseca, my muse kitty Ilvie and last but not least huge thanks to Antonio and Caterina Crepax for sharing the memories that they have of their father with me and the people that were at Beja on 31st May and 1st June 2014, without their open minds, I couldn't turn this dream into reality.

What can I say more?

The exhibition continues until 15 October at Beja - Portugal, so if you're near there, go visit it since it's an excellent opportunity to see an iconic character on comics art form with an individual exhibition.

 Da muy nobre e invicta

 Manuel Espírito santo
       

       
 

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