HANSEL & GRETEL: An exhibit by Lorenzo Mattotti

Opening Reception

Saturday May 9th, 2015

5:30pm - 7:30pm

@ Istituto Italiano di Cultura - 496 Huron St., Toronto

Free Event

Facebook Event

Join us on May 9th for the opening reception of Lorenzo Mattotti's Hansel and Gretel, co-presented by the Istituto Italiano du Cultura. Running from May 9th to June 26th, this exhibit features the original artwork from Lorenzo Mattotti's collaboration with renowned author Neil Gaiman Sandman. Published by TOON Books in 2014, this books presents the dark and terrifying world of Hansel and Gretel as you've never seen it before.

About the Book

In 1812, the Brothers Grimm published the story of "Hansel and Gretel" about a brother and sister who must survive abandonment by their parents and being captured by a hungry witch.

In 2007, Mattotti created compelling black-and-white artwork for the fairy tale. While not in the traditional graphic novel format, this illustrated short story alternates between images and words, allowing for full spreads of the artist's drawings, punctuated by intermittent spreads of text. There is no question that Gaiman is an incredibly gifted wordsmith, and his retelling hearkens back to the Grimms's original narrative. The most inspirational part of this book is Mattotti's artwork. Pitch-black India ink is used to great effect, creating landscapes that threaten to envelop the tiny figures of the children.

About the Artist

Mattotti was born in Brescia Lombardy. He studied architecture when he was young, but did not finish the course. Instead he became a comics artist. After a few traditional comic stories he decided he wanted to tell different kinds of stories and portray these in a different style. Il Signor Spartaco was the first comic made under this ambition. The story centred on the dreams of a train passenger making it possible for Mattotti to use forms and colors in a way previously unseen in the classic French-Belgian comic world. He focused more on the inner world of his characters and the total absence of an adventure was also a radical change in the comics universe. Mattotti is mainly inspired by painters, musicians, writers and directors. To him, the relation between text and image should be the same as with text and music. The two should enrich each other. Unusually, in Mattotti's comics the text illustrates the illustration instead of the other way around. He always makes sure the text has enough freedom for multiple interpretations.