In the Sunday edition (Ocotber 24th) of the swiss newspaper Le Matin, you can find an interview with Cosey – not the first and not the last in this busy period.
For Cosey fans, the interview by Jean-Philippe Bernard does not contain much new information – something we may expect from the other interviews the coming weeks.
Let me take the opportunity to direct you to my interview with Cosey: click here.
Finally! Ralph Doumit has been working on his monography about Cosey for many years. Already announced for 2020 (under a different title) it will be published soon, by PLG Éditions. It will be part of the collection Mémoire Vive.
Ralph Doumit is an author, illustrator and teacher/researcher at the Académie Libanais des Beaux-Arts in Beyrouth (Libanon). He has written many articles and studies about comics and he has made lots of interviews with comics artists – you can read many of them on the blog ‘Les images qui racontent‘. He contibuted to ‘Cosey – Une quête de l’épure’, the catalogue of the Cosey exposition in Angoulême in 2018.
Years ago, I proofread one of the first chapters. I don’t know if this chapter made it to the new book, but if Ralph continued his work at the same level, we may expect an intelligent, expert view on Cosey’s work, in a highly readable style.
Some news regarding ‘A l’heure où les dieux dorment encore’, published by Daniel Maghen. Publication is postponed a little, to 4 november 2021.
Galerie Daniel Maghen announces a Cosey exposition in his Galerie in Paris, from 17 november till 11 december 2021. Address: 36, Rue du Louvre in Paris.
Cosey will have a few signing sessions – please check on the site of Daniel Maghen or on the site of Payot for correct times and possible last minutes changes:
3 november, 18.00: FNAC Forum des Halles in Paris
13 november: Librairie Payot Lausanne (different times are announced on the site of Maghen and Payot, so check it before you go)
The mural painting in Morges is finished and restored to its old glory. Let’s hope the painting will be left untouched by other ‘artists’.
Where to find the wall painting? It can be found on the wall of a building behind the house on 1, Avenue de Riond Bosson in Morges/Tolochenaz. The mural is painted to the wall facing the railway, I don’t think you can see from the road.
On the instagram account of LeLombard (click here), you can find a competition to win this poster. It is a map (80 x 60 cm) of the region around Nepal, Tibet and India with some characters from the Jonathan series.
The competition is only open to people living in Belgium, France or Switzerland. For more regulations, see the post of LeLombard on instagram. On 22 October, 5 winners will be drafted.
LeLombard has lanched its publicity campaign for the 17th Jonathan album.
One of the great ideas is to have a playlist of ‘Jonathan- music’ on YouTube! You can listen to all the music that has been recommended on the backsides of the Jonathan albums. Listen here.
The playlist starts with a promo-video for the new album and it ends with an interview with Cosey about Jonathan 17: click here for a direct link to that interview. Strange enough, the uncoloured version of the album cover is used.
And on the ‘Actu’-page of LeLombard you can read the press dossier (scroll down) going with the album: click here.
I have made an interview with Cosey about his two new books: La Piste de Yéshé (Jonathan 17) and A l’heure où les dieux dorment encore.
I made it based on two sources: an e-mail exchanges between Cosey and me and thee Dossier de Presse going with Jonathan 17. I haven’t read the books yet.
Spolier alert: in the interview I have tried to avoid spoilers, but there are still some quotes and images that may unveil some secrets.
In no. 139 (October/November) of Canal BD, you can read an interview with Cosey, written by Ronan Lancelot.
The interview of four pages starts with some well-known questions ans answers (about the start of the series, the first documentation on location), but I particularly liked passages about the use of colour.
If you don’t like spoilers, be reassured, the interview does not unveil anything about the new Jonathan album.
This is the cover of ‘À l’heure où les dieux dorment encore’ (‘At the hour when de gods still sleep’), that will be published by Daniel Maghen at the end of this month.
The book will contain sketches and watercolours Cosey made over the years. It is more or less a travel journal, but it will also have some reflections about colours, comics and other subjects. The book is divided into sections by regions: the Alps, Cyclades (Greece), Taiwan, India, etc.
An exposition of drawings from the book can be visited from 17 november at the Galerie Maghen in Paris.
More than five years ago, I made a message about a mural painting by Cosey in Morges (Switzerland), that was heavily damaged by graffiti painters (see my message here).
At last, restoration works have been started. Ivan Micello has put the scaffolding in place, has cleaned the wall and has started painting!
I know Ivan from the great mural painting in Pully he made last year (look here), so I am convinced that he will keep us informed about the progress of the work, and that he will do a good job!
In number 16 (Oct-Dec 2021) of ‘Les Cahiers de la BD’, you can find a ‘Cahier Héroïque’ about Jonathan, on the occasion – of course – the final album of the series.
The Cahier has 20 pages, richly illustrated with images taken from Jonathan. Readers who don’t want to know anything about the new album can be reassured: the articles do not disclose any secrets about Jonathan 17.
The main part of the Cahier is an article about the character of Jonathan, written by Nicolas Tellop. Tellop describes why Jonathan is a uncommon character in comics history. He is not a western hero that solves a problem or brings order in a bad situation in an exotic environment – imposing a western view on different cultures – but he is a character that aborbs the different cultures in which he moves around. Also, he is not a very active character, he is mostly an observer. Jonathan is open to different enviroments and people, he has the open mind of a young child. Through all this, Tellop emphasises te importance of the way of working of Cosey, using documentation, photos en sketches made on location as a foundation for his stories. At least: this my my very short summary of an intelligent article.
The Cahier has also some more or less original side-articles: one about the music of Jonathan (a short playlist) and another about some locations through which Jonathan has travelled. More interesting is a short article about the book that will be published by Daniel Maghen later this month: ‘À l’heure où les dieux dorment encore’ – book filled with sketches that Cosey made over the years during his travels.
On November 19, 2020, the belgian comic gallery owner and publisher Jean-Marie Derscheid died at the age of 65. In the BDFIL brochure of this year, you can read an ‘In Memoriam’ by BDFIL director Dominique Radrizzani, illustrated with this small drawing by Cosey.
Derscheid pioneered with expositions of the works of comic artists, like Hugo Pratt, Moebius, Jacques Tardi et many others – both in his own gallery Ziggourat in Brussels as at several comics festivals. One of these festivals was the BDFIL in Lausanne, for which he organised the exposition of Cosey works, ‘Les lueuers du Monde’, in 2007.
This is the third post in a row with ‘In memory’ drawings by Cosey – I hope to have happier news in the near future…
