Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I wish I could draw like..

..this Israeli artist whose work I recently came across again after all these years: Rutu Modan. I have met her in 2002 during Stripdagen Haarlem, one of the biggest comics events in The Netherlands, where her comics group Actus Tragicus participated as well. I and my friends, organizers of Madjoe! Indonesian Comics Exhibition, met them at the opening night of their exhibition at the Fietsznfabriek. The next day we all gathered for drinks at a café somewhere in the center of Haarlem, but I bet she wouldn't remember how I look - nor do I remember how she looked back then (I can't identify her in the photo).

Photo by a journalist who documented the encounter
between Indonesian and Israeli comics artists
during the opening of Actus Tragicus exhibition in Haarlem  

She apparently has moved on much further since that day. Her book Exit Wounds was just published (May 2007) by Drawn & Quarterly, and her column at The New York Times has just come to its last edition. It's the latter work that put me into an awe. The stories are personal yet almost anyone can relate to them; they flow smoothly and are riddled with humor, without compromising their deeper meanings. The drawings contain single lines, human gestures are depicted naturally and objects appear not less lively. The timing between text and graphics is perfect. The soft, warm colors grace the whole compositions, adding charms to the ambience. The entire stories expose a simplicity that indicates intelligence. I sure hope to see much more of her works and be immersed in them again!


An extract from one of her NYT columns   

29 comments:

  1. Oooooh!! That's a bloody good column!!! *hik..hik..*

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  2. bisa bikin hehe sekaligus hik hik banget deh.. *sniff*

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  3. i wish i could draw like you ta :D
    *secara aku gak bakat nggambar blas !* :))

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  4. ah kamu kan pernah dapat piala juara menggambar bertema "lingkungan hidup" yang aku nggak pernah dapet itu :) *huggss*

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  5. HUAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
    itu karena kejagoan mengarang bebas, bukan kejagoan menggambar =))
    *pialanya kemana ya ?*

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  6. dibalikin ke panitia. kan aturannya harus menang 3x berturut-turut baru boleh di-HM :D

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  7. ada 1 piala bergilir sama 1 piala tetap. nah yang tetap ini yang gak tau kemana. kalo yang bergilir udah dibalikin..ngemeng2 lomba gambar ini udah nggak ada lagi ya ?

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  8. hahaha jadi ngebahas lomba gambar. nggak pernah denger lagi tuh ttg itu, padahal dulu perasaan tiap taun ada ya. nah yang piala tetap tauk tuh ke mana.. liat terakhir jaman kamu masih di sambas *lama bangeeettt*

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  9. Lebih bagus, lebih original gambar elu menurut gue mah...

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  10. hihi thanks makplon.. gue merasa belom bisa bikin isi dan alur cerita sebagus dia

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  11. gue baca di NYT... keren banget! :D

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  12. wah iya nih, pembaca NYT ;)) lebih sering baca versi online atau versi cetaknya, kuc?

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  13. tapi gw suka kok karya lo Ta. punya keunikan sendiri juga

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  14. I wish I could draw like you...:sigh:

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  15. Gue baru baca sisanya... kalo baca2 gitu, semua keluarga sama aja yah :)). Yg soal mobil tuh.. babe gue bener :)) :)). Bener kata elo, personal yet universal :)).

    One day... you'll do something like this :D

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  16. roel: lha elu lagi.. gue malah mau minta ajarin ngewarna ;))

    ven: haha iya bener, yg mixed feelings itu nenek gue juga ("aku paling pinter, aku paling disayang guru") hahaha.. *ihik* thanks ven, I will! ;;)

    bert: liat deh, gayanya berubah dari tahun ke tahun.. tapi tetep tokcer!

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  17. aku suka stylenya..warnanya juga unik :)

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  18. ya keren banget.....

    but i wish i could draw like .......... you!

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  19. wishing to be able to draw like you is too much deh kayaknya...
    I wish I could have 50% of you drawing talent... yah 20% juga boleh deh...

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  20. Kolomnya bagus bener... I can easily relate to some of them.. heheh...

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  21. waw..iya bagus banget loh...ah Tita mah bisa dong :D ganbatte!

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  22. iya, keren Ta. Mencerminkan 'lah pokoknya...

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  23. roel: hahaaaa.. he-eeuuhhh

    sindyju: terlihat sederhana tapi sarat informasi :D

    mer: if I'm granted three wishes, one of them is having just a bit of your musical talents :D

    dmertani: hauww.. :"> *flattered*

    yik: haha iya ya, langsung *tring!* teringat sama orang2 di sekeliling kita ;))

    escoklat: semangat! :))

    ramok: enya' lah.. polll..

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