Princess of the Shining Night

Some of you will remember last year's post about Philip Giordano, 

the winner of Bologna's first international award for illustration.

This year the prize was awarded to the wonderful Taiwanese artist Page Tsou,

while the fair dedicated an exhibition to the paintings from Philip's last book 

La Princesa Noche Resplandeciente, just published in Spain by Ediciones SM.

Based on an ancient Japanese folk tale about the birth of Mount Fuji, the book 

tells the story of the impossible love between the Princess of the Shining Night

and the emperor of Japan. These are a few of the illustrations exposed.

My photos are not great, but I hope you'll agree with me that the artworks are remarkable!

I really love Giordano's personal interpretation of the magic and mysterious world of legends. 

And  here is a little video for those who want to find out how these beauties were created:

From Bologna: Philip Giordano

Teppete my cat

Ok, let's start with the prize winners. An international jury has assigned the newly created

International Award for Illustration, reserved to artists under 35, to Philip Giordano aka Pilipo, 

a young Italian artist living in Torino. I had recently discovered and appreciated Philip's work through 

his blog White Pepper Ice Cream and flickr stream. He has published three children's books with Zoolibri, 

including the lovely Chissadove and L'isola del mostro nero nero. Quoting the jury's motivation, 

he "moves masterfully between the cultural idioms of the past" and "appropriates the history of intense 

and provocative graphics as he searches for a valid and original artistic language." 

Congratulations Philip, and thanks for following the animalarium!

Devendra Banhart

Sketch for the project A4 god

letter G

detail from illustration

my grandfather

lemu