art spiegelman: hapless hooligan in 'still moving'

‘dancin’ in the dark!’: some notes on the art of collaboration by art spiegelman image courtesy of the new york times

american artist / illustrator and pulitzer prize winner art spiegelman’s recent project is a bit of an unconventional collaboration. spiegelman teamed up with the choreographers and dancer-athletes of pilobolus dance theatre on their newest performance, ‘hapless hooligan in ‘still moving”, which is now on show at the joyce theater in new york city.

‘hapless hooligan in ‘still moving’ it is a noirish love story which is executed in the style of early comics such as kray kat. it follows the tragicomic tale of hap, a nebbish wearing a tin can for a hat, and lulu, his not-so-faithful girflriend. separated in life and reunited after death, the story tells of their misadventures at home and in the underworld.

spiegelman created the animated film of ‘hapless hooligan in ‘still moving”, which is projected in the background of the show, in which dancers of pilobus dance theatre interact and perform with.

‘dancin’ in the dark!’: some notes on the art of collaboration by art spiegelman (detail) image courtesy of the new york times

the graphic novelist fittingly drew a comic strip to document the collaborative process between pilobolus and himself, which appeared in the new york times.

‘dancin’ in the dark!’: some notes on the art of collaboration by art spiegelman (detail) image courtesy of the new york times

art spiegelman on the collaboration with pilobus

a scene from the pilobolus & art spiegelman collaboration ‘hapless hooligan in ‘still moving” which first premiered at dartmouth college video still by martin grant

a scene from the pilobolus & art spiegelman collaboration ‘hapless hooligan in ‘still moving” video still by joseph mehling ’69

born in stockholm, sweden and immigrating to the USA at an early age, art spiegelman almost single-handedly, brought comic books out of the closet and onto the literature shelves. throughout high school, he studied cartooning and by the age of 16, he started to draw professionally. rejecting his parents’ desire for him to become a dentist, spiegelman majored in art and philosophy at harpur college. following this, he became part of the underground comix subculture of the 60s and 70s.

drawings for ‘maus’ by art spiegelman photo by designboom

his early career began in 1966 working for topps bubble gum co. between 1965 – 1987 he acted as creative consultant for the company, where he drew‘bazooka joe’ comics and helped develop ‘wacky packages’ and the cult classic ‘garbage pail kids’, similar in style to the ‘cabbage patch kids’ dolls (but with often gross and vulgar details). he worked at topps for twenty years until a dispute regarding ownership of his original artwork caused him to leave. while working for the company, spiegelman began publishing his own artwork for such underground magazines such as ‘real pulp’ and ‘bizarre sex’.

drawings from ‘maus II’ by art spiegelman, 1991 photo by designboom

spiegelman is best known for his shifting graphic style, along with the formal complexity and controversial content of his comics. his most acclaimed work is ‘maus: a survivor’s tale’ which was first published in 1986. the holocaust narrative portrays jews as mice and nazis as cats. the follow-up came, in 1991 with ‘maus II’ which was a continued story of his own parents’ survival of the nazi regime and their lives later in america. in 1992 he won the pulitzer prize for the graphic novel.

drawings from ‘maus II’ by art spiegelman, 1991 photo by designboom

‘maus’ studies by art spiegelman photo by designboom

cover drawing for ‘maus’ by art spiegelman photo by designboom

excerpt from ‘maus’ by art spiegelman photo by designboom

‘maus’ cartoon cambos by r. crumb august 2002 photo by designboom

cover of RAW (real art works), the torn again graphix magazine, 1985 photo by designboom

RAW (real art works), was founded by spiegelman with his wife, artist françoise mouly (currently the art editor of the new yorker), in 1980. ‘maus’ was actually first serialized throughout the pages of RAW between 1980-1985 before it’s official publication in 1986.

‘in the shadow of no towers’ by art spiegelman, 2002-2006 photo by designboom

in 2004, he completed a two-year cycle of broadsheet-sized color comics pages ‘in the shadow of now towers’. it was first published by a number of european newspapers and magazines. a book version of the political works was published later in the US by pantheon, and was selected by the new yorks times book review as one of the 100 notable books of 2004.

‘little lit: the several selves of selby sheldrake’ by art spiegelman

spiegelman and mouly together co-edited ‘little lit’ which is a series of three comic anthologies published by harpercollins for children. it features the work 17 cartoonists and children’s book artists from around the world.

drawings for ‘little lit: the several selves of selby sheldrake’ by art spiegelman photo by designboom