Skip to main content

23-26 May 2024 Palace of Culture and Science and plac Defilad

Italian stories. Italian fiction illustrated. MANUELE FIOR, BEPPE GIACOBBE, ANDREA SERIO, MARIO SUGHI, ELISA TALENTINO

For a publishing house, book cover is one of the most compelling assets with which to entice a reader to buy a book.  As Bruno Munari, Italy’s incomparable master of publishing graphics, used to say, a cover is a bijou poster created to let the onlooked know that the book is worth their while.

The history of Italian publishing graphic design is replete with examples of a publisher turning to an illustrator with a request for an original and striking cover. This trend, which continued in phases throughout the 20th century, came back with a vengeance in the 2000s, when a number of publishing houses asked the illustrators to revamp the image of their publishing series.

This exhibition aspires to showcase how Italian fiction is often entrusted to the interpretation of an illustrator – whether it be work of a writer who has already become a classic or a young promising author. The illustrators – Manuele Fior, Beppe Giacobbe, Andrea Serio, Mario Sughi and Elisa Talentino – are among the most beloved and inimitable contemporary cartoonists. They use a variety of techniques, from watercolour to digital painting, in a distinctive and recognizable style.

MANUELE FIOR

Born in Cesena in 1975; he has lived in Berlin, Oslo, Paris and Venice. He works as an illustrator for magazines, including »The New Yorker« and »Vanity Fair«; daily papers, including »la Repubblica«, »Le Monde«, »Il Sole 24 Ore«; and publishers, including Feltrinelli, Einaudi, EL. The Hypericon, his most recent graphic novel, was published in 2022 by the Coconino Press. He created posters for Premio Strega (2016) and for the Turin International Book Fair (2018).

ANDREA SERIO

Born in Carrara in 1973. He is an illustrator and cartoonist specializing in the use of pastels and coloured pencils; his artwork has been shown during many national and international events. He has illustrated books for young adults; he has made posters and covers for novels, magazines and music records. Following the great success of his first individual graphic novel, Rhapsody in blue, which was widely translated in Europe, he started working on Gauloises (Oblomov, 2021), a roman noir by Igort.

BEPPE GIACOBBE

Born in Milan in 1953, he lives and works there. He illustrated several major advertising campaigns for the United Airlines, he worked for »The New York Times« and »The New Yorker«. Since 1989, he has collaborated with »Corriere della Sera«; he created book covers for the following publishing houses: Einaudi, Mondadori, Rizzoli, Chiare Lettere, Laterza, Il Saggiatore, Feltrinelli,  Garzanti and Longanesi.

MARIO SUGHI

Born in Cesena in 1961, he has lived and worked in Dublin since the mid-1990s. His artwork was presented at numerous solo exhibitions in Italy and Ireland and were included in many group exhibitions. As an illustrator, he has worked with some of the most prominent publishing houses, including Einaudi, Garzanti, Neri Pozza, Rizzoli and Fazi Editore. In 2021, he drew the cover for the Polish edition of Domenico Starnone’s Confidenza, published in Poland by Pauza, a Warsaw-based publishing house.

ELISA TALENTINO

Born in 1981 in Turin, she lives and works there. She likes to experiment with various printmaking techniques, particularly screen print and monotype, combined with traditional painting techniques. She has worked for the »The New York Times«, »The Washington Post«, »la Repubblica«, »La Stampa«, and » Corriere della Sera«; she has created book covers for Einaudi, Mondadori, Bompiani, Il Saggiatore, Edizioni E/O, Enne Edizioni, inter alia. She is the author of 2023 Turin International Book Fair poster.