Portugal in Bologna

Bernardo Carvalho

I have been wanting to post some pictures from the Bologna Book Fair, but my time 

was very limited this week... here to start is a peek at a few works from Portugal, 

this year's Guest of Honour and a country rich with talented and innovative illustrators.

 Thanks to Principi and Princípi for the photo

I thought that the exhibition design was quite nice, but a nightmare for taking photographs!

Madalena Matoso

Among the artists represented, I was happy to find some personal favorites 

like Madalena Matoso and Bernardo Carvalho of Planeta Tangerina, 

and the great André da Loba.

André da Loba

Gonçalo Viana

There were also numerous new discoveries, such as the vibrant illustrations of Gonçalo Viana,

with their beautiful textures and colorful geometric patterns

a combination of drawing and paper cutout by Cristina Valadas

a sweet flock of domesticated kids by Teresa Lima

the humorous collage work of Marta Madureira

and the stylized animal illustrations of Tiago Albuquerque...

visit the official site for other pictures and a complete list of the illustrators on show.

That's it for me today, see you soon with more Bologna beasts!

Time to Play

From The Bear and the Crow, OQO Editora, 2008

In recent months I have often been spending time on tumblr, an activity which, besides being 
very self-indulgent and addictive, has led me to quite a few discoveries of new interesting artists. 
Among them, thanks to the lovely allakinda, is André Da Loba, a Portuguese illustrator 
who recently graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York. 

From Bicho de 7 Cabeças, Companhia das Letras, 2009

André uses simple shapes, lots of pure black and primary colors to build 

his imaginative and playful illustrations, sculptures and collages. 

His children's books and editorial works have been recognized and awarded by 

the Bologna Children's Book Fair, The Society of Illustrators, IBBY, The Visual Magazine, 

The Creative Quarterly magazine, the 3x3 annual and others. 

Amadeo's Monsters for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Illustration from the unpublished The Moon Prince

Illustration from the unpublished Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!

from Bichos-faz-de-conta, Porto Editora

Two illustrations for Letras Libres

Don't loose your head

from the installation The cabinet

André currently lives in New York, where he is "secretly happy".

One of the secrets of his happiness is revealed in this video, where

we see him at play with his very special collection of handmade toys!