L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano T h e f i r s t 2 0 2 4 c o v e r o f T h e New Yorker was designed by Ital- i a n i l l u s t r a t o r Bianca Bagnarelli. Titled Deadline, it depicts the plight of those who find themselves having to work even during the holidays. Born in 1988, Bagnarelli spent a year studying comics and illustration at the Acade- my of Fine Arts in Bologna. Besides her ongoing collabora- t i o n w i t h T h e N e w Y o r k e r since 2016, the artist and car- toonist, who was born and raised in Milan but has been living in Bologna for many years, has also worked with some of the major American magazines. This includes The Atlantic, for which she created the Dear Therapist's Guide to Love and Relationships illus- tration, and New York Maga- zine, where her illustrations accompanied Weike Wang's article. Her most significant collab- oration, however, is with The New York Times. Among her recent projects are the cover art and illustrations for The N e w Y o r k T i m e s B o o k Review. This includes work for Jenny Jackson's debut novel Pineapple Street and S u e M i l l e r ' s l a t e s t n o v e l Monogamy. In 2021, she illus- t r a t e d t h e i r S o l v e r Stories series and created the cover for What the Future M a y H o l d f o r t h e C o r o n - avirus and Us in their Science Times section. In both 2020 and 2021, her illustrations were featured in a New York Times compilation of "this year's memorable illustra- tions." Bagnarelli's work extends beyond international publica- tions to collaborations with I t a l i a n m a g a z i n e s l i k e I l Post and Il Foglio, for which she created the cover Under Examination. Her reach in Italy also includes major pub- lishing houses, contributing cover art for novels by cele- brated authors such as Dave Eggers and Kazuo Ishiguro. Notable among these are the c o v e r s f o r C h i m a m a n d a Ngozi Adichie's We Should All Be Feminists and Kazuo I s h i g u r o ' s K l a r a a n d t h e Sun, both published by Ein- audi. Her career gained a signif- icant boost in 2010 with the founding of Delebile, an i n d e p e n d e n t p u b l i s h e r focused on bringing interna- tional comic stories from artists worldwide to a broad- er audience. This venture brought her both recognition and awards, including the 2014 Bartoli Award for the most promising Italian car- t o o n i s t . F u r t h e r a c c l a i m came with the gold medal in the short form category at the Comic and Cartoon Art Com- petition for her 2015 graphic novel Fish, awarded by the Society of Illustrators. Her comic works have also been featured by publishers like Nobrow, McSweeney's, and ShortBox Comics Fair. In 2 0 1 4 , B a g n a r e l l i w o n the New Road Award at the N a p l e s C o m i c o n , a n d i n 2 0 2 3 , s h e r e c e i v e d the Boscarato Award for best cover artist at the Treviso Comic Book Festival. Among her notable pro- jects, Bagnarelli participated i n t h e C o m i c s i n M u s e u m s i n i t i a t i v e , endorsed by the Ministry of Culture. She proposed Vul- canalia, a comic strip set in the Pompeii Archaeological P a r k . T h e s t o r y f o l l o w s a young girl who, separated from her parents, embarks on a wondrous journey through Pompeii in 79 A.D., guided by the stories of an audio guide. Bianca, The New York- er featured one of your i l l u s t r a t i o n s , t i t l e d "Deadline," on its first cover of 2024. The intro- duction described it as "capturing the stormy feelings many of us have about our working lives." Can you tell us how this illustration came about? Does it relate to a specific moment in your career? The illustration was born from a deeply personal expe- r i e n c e . I n r e c e n t y e a r s , I often found myself working during holidays, exploiting q u i e t m o m e n t s w h e n t h e world seemed to pause. It felt like outsmarting the system by doing as much as possible. However, there's a tinge of melancholy when you realize you're missing out on a cele- bration. Regarding your work with The New Yorker and T h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s , h o w d o y o u a p p r o a c h these significant collabo- rations? Are you given free rein on a topic, or are there guidelines and a need for multiple pro- posals? Usually, the process starts with the text, be it an article, a short story, or something else. I present several rough sketches (three to six), and the art director chooses one to be developed into the final piece. For The New Yorker cover, it's slightly different. I start with specific themes and then have the freedom to develop my ideas. The year 2024 kicks off with an important cover. Do you have any other projects or goals for this new year? In March, The Summer We Crossed Europe In The R a i n w i l l b e r e l e a s e d b y Faber, featuring illustrations I created based on song lyrics written over the years by the writer Kazuo Ishiguro for jazz musician Stacey Kent. L o o k i n g b a c k a t t h e st art of your career, I read that you were born i n M i l a n i n 1 9 8 8 a n d later moved to Bologna to attend the Academy of F i n e A r t s . W h a t h a v e been the significant mile- s t o n e s i n y o u r c a r e e r after finishing your stud- ies? Starting Delebile with a group of my coursemates led m e t o a t t e n d n u m e r o u s c o m i c f e s t i v a l s a c r o s s Europe. It was an opportuni- ty to see the work others were doing and to gain a better understanding of the publish- ing world in general. What catches your eye i n a c o m i c s t r i p o r a n illustration? I u s u a l l y f i n d m y s e l f drawn to works that are quite d i f f e r e n t f r o m m y o w n , where there's more spontane- ity and fun, and less preci- sion. You also design book covers, like the Italian version of Imogen Bin- n i e ' s N e v a d a . H o w d o y o u c o m e u p w i t h t h e idea for a book cover? Do y o u d r a w i n s p i r a t i o n from within the pages of the book? Y e s , t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s always begin with the text. With books, it's about creat- ing a synthesis that best con- veys the essence of the text without revealing too much of the story. In general, how would you define your style, if one can speak of a single style? Narrative. You're based in Italy but do a lot of work with t h e U S . W h a t d o y o u think makes your work so appealing in the Unit- ed States? I'm not sure, but I'm very happy about it. Perhaps it's because my illustrations are always very clear and narra- tive, making it easy to con- nect with the image. Bianca Bagnarelli: the first Italian to illustrate the cover of The New Yorker SILVIA NITTOLI Bianca Bagnarelli's cover for The New Yorker (Photo: Bianca Bagnarelli) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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