Andrea Pazienza
Encyclopedia
Andrea Pazienza was an Italian
comics artist
and painter
.
, province of Ascoli Piceno
(Marche
), in 1956.
Growing up in his father's town of San Severo
, in Apulia
, he enrolled in 1973 at the DAMS (Dipartimento di Arte, Musica e Spettacolo; Department of Arts, Music and Entertainment) of the University in Bologna
, graduating with a thesis consisting of an adaptation in comic form of Luigi Pulci
's Morgante
.
story of an alter ego named from a sedative (Penthothal
). He later participated to such editorial experiences as Cannibale, Il Male and Frigidaire, where he created hundreds of comics with his unique and unmatched style, grown out of American underground comics (as represented by visionaries like Rick Griffin
and Victor Moscoso
), Italian Renaissance
art and Walt Disney
comics. He was especially fond of the character of Goofy
, which he appropriated for a humorous spoof on Italian hippiedom of the 1970s entitled Perché Pippo sembra uno sballato ("Why Goofy Looks Like A Pothead"), and a later, unfinished story entitled La leggenda di Italianino Liberatore ("The Legend Of Italianino Liberatore", referring to his old friend Tanino Liberatore
); he also said in an interview that Carl Barks
, the creator of Uncle Scrooge
, Magica De Spell
and other characters of the "duck's family", was a model for his art.
Pazienza quickly developed an extremely personal body of work, alternating between playful comic cartooning – at times politically charged, at times simply nonsensical – and much more elaborate, dark, disturbing graphic novels, often dealing with drugs and wanton violence, with a liberal scattering of black humor throughout.
In 1980 he created the character Zanardi
and collaborated with the magazines Corto Maltese and Comic Art while also producing movie and theater posters, scene designs, record covers and advertising. He was extremely prolific through the 80s, penning hundreds of single-panel cartoons as well as longer, intricate stories usually centered on Zanardi
. If Pentothal was emblematic of the Bologna of 1977 (with the political activism and the trend of psychedelic drugs), Zanardi is a creature of the cynical and non-committed 1980s. Pompeo, his last graphic novel
depicting the gradual downfall of a heroin addict (a largely autobiographical character) up to his eventual suicide, is generally considered his masterwork; the post-face to this work testifies that Pazienza tried to start a new life and, for a while, quit drugs.
, probably by overdose. He is buried in cemetery of San Severo.
In his memory in Cremona, the non profit association "Centro Fumetto Andrea Pazienza" was created to help young cartoonists develop their skills.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
comics artist
Comics artist
A comics artist is an artist working within the comics medium on comic strips, comic books or graphic novels. The term may refer to any number of artists who contribute to produce a work in the comics form, from those who oversee all aspects of the work to those who contribute only a part.-Comic...
and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
Life
Pazienza was born in San Benedetto del TrontoSan Benedetto del Tronto
San Benedetto del Tronto is a city and comune in Marche, Italy, in the province of Ascoli Piceno. It lies on the Adriatic Sea. San Benedetto del Tronto is an important little town on the Marche coast, an active fishing port and one of the main seaside resorts on the central Adriatic coast.Located...
, province of Ascoli Piceno
Province of Ascoli Piceno
The Province of Ascoli Piceno is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ascoli Piceno.It has an area of 1,228 km², and a total population of 212,846 . There are 33 comuni in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Ascoli Piceno.-External links:**...
(Marche
Marche
The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...
), in 1956.
Growing up in his father's town of San Severo
San Severo
San Severo is a city and comune of 55,486 inhabitants of the province of Foggia in the southern Italian region of Apulia....
, in Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
, he enrolled in 1973 at the DAMS (Dipartimento di Arte, Musica e Spettacolo; Department of Arts, Music and Entertainment) of the University in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, graduating with a thesis consisting of an adaptation in comic form of Luigi Pulci
Luigi Pulci
Luigi Pulci was an Italian poet best known for his Morgante, an epic story of a giant who is converted to Christianity and follows the knight Orlando....
's Morgante
Morgante
Morgante, sometimes also called Morgante Maggiore , is an Italian romantic epic by Luigi Pulci which appeared in its final form in 1483 .Based...
.
Career
He made his debut in the spring of 1977 in the magazine Alteralter with his first comic story, "Le straordinarie avventure di Pentothal" (Pentothal's extraordinary adventures), the surrealistic and psychedelicPsychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
story of an alter ego named from a sedative (Penthothal
Sodium thiopental
Sodium thiopental, better known as Sodium Pentothal , thiopental, thiopentone sodium, or Trapanal , is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anaesthetic...
). He later participated to such editorial experiences as Cannibale, Il Male and Frigidaire, where he created hundreds of comics with his unique and unmatched style, grown out of American underground comics (as represented by visionaries like Rick Griffin
Rick Griffin
Richard Alden Griffin was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in Zap Comix. Griffin was closely identified with the Grateful Dead, designing some of their best known...
and Victor Moscoso
Victor Moscoso
Victor Moscoso is an artist best known for producing psychedelic rock posters/advertisements and underground comix in San Francisco during the 1960s and '70s....
), Italian Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
art and Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
comics. He was especially fond of the character of Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
, which he appropriated for a humorous spoof on Italian hippiedom of the 1970s entitled Perché Pippo sembra uno sballato ("Why Goofy Looks Like A Pothead"), and a later, unfinished story entitled La leggenda di Italianino Liberatore ("The Legend Of Italianino Liberatore", referring to his old friend Tanino Liberatore
Tanino Liberatore
Gaetano Liberatore , better known as Tanino Liberatore, is an Italian comics author and illustrator. His best known fictional character is RanXerox.- Life and work :...
); he also said in an interview that Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
, the creator of Uncle Scrooge
Uncle Scrooge
Uncle Scrooge is a comic book with the stingy Scrooge McDuck "the richest duck in the world" as the main character. The series also featured Donald Duck and his nephews as supporting characters. The first 70 issues mostly consisted of stories written and drawn by Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge...
, Magica De Spell
Magica De Spell
Magica De Spell is a fictional character of the Scrooge McDuck universe, a sorceress created by Carl Barks. She constantly steals or attempts to steal Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime, which she believes will play a vital role in magically obtaining the same fabulous wealth of its...
and other characters of the "duck's family", was a model for his art.
Pazienza quickly developed an extremely personal body of work, alternating between playful comic cartooning – at times politically charged, at times simply nonsensical – and much more elaborate, dark, disturbing graphic novels, often dealing with drugs and wanton violence, with a liberal scattering of black humor throughout.
In 1980 he created the character Zanardi
Zanardi (comics)
Zanardi is a comics character created by Andrea Pazienza, arguably his most famous creation.He is the main actor in a series of graphic novels which appeared in installments on several Italian comics magazines during the early 1980s. Zanardi first appeared on Frigidaire magazine in 1981, in Giallo...
and collaborated with the magazines Corto Maltese and Comic Art while also producing movie and theater posters, scene designs, record covers and advertising. He was extremely prolific through the 80s, penning hundreds of single-panel cartoons as well as longer, intricate stories usually centered on Zanardi
Zanardi (comics)
Zanardi is a comics character created by Andrea Pazienza, arguably his most famous creation.He is the main actor in a series of graphic novels which appeared in installments on several Italian comics magazines during the early 1980s. Zanardi first appeared on Frigidaire magazine in 1981, in Giallo...
. If Pentothal was emblematic of the Bologna of 1977 (with the political activism and the trend of psychedelic drugs), Zanardi is a creature of the cynical and non-committed 1980s. Pompeo, his last graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
depicting the gradual downfall of a heroin addict (a largely autobiographical character) up to his eventual suicide, is generally considered his masterwork; the post-face to this work testifies that Pazienza tried to start a new life and, for a while, quit drugs.
Memory
Andrea Pazienza died at age 32 in MontepulcianoMontepulciano
Montepulciano is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and comune in the province of Siena in southern Tuscany, in Italy. Montepulciano, with an elevation of 605 m, sits on a high limestone ridge. By car it is 13 km E of Pienza; 70 km SE of Siena, 124 km SE of Florence, and...
, probably by overdose. He is buried in cemetery of San Severo.
In his memory in Cremona, the non profit association "Centro Fumetto Andrea Pazienza" was created to help young cartoonists develop their skills.
Selected works
- Aficionados
- Andrea Pazienza (1981)
- Le straordinarie avventure di Pentothal ("The Extraordinary Adventures of Pentothal", 1982) where he describes with an incredible mix of realism and dream sequences the existential problems of the youth of the 1970s
- Milo Manara e Andrea Pazienza ("Milo ManaraMilo ManaraMaurilio Manara – known professionally as Milo Manara – is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.-Career:...
and Andrea Pazienza", 1982) - Zanardi (1983)
- Perché Pippo sembra uno sballato ("Why GoofyGoofyGoofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
Looks Like A Pothead", 1983) - Pertini (1983), an homage to the (former) President of the Italian Republic Alessandro Pertini
- Glamour Book (1984)
- Tormenta ("Blizzard", 1985)
- Cattive Compagnie ("Bad companies", 1985)
- Glamour Book 2 (1987)
- Pazeroticus (1987)
- Zanardi e altre storie ("Zanardi and Other Stories", 1987)
- Pompeo (1987), Pazienza's testament and autobiographical book.