Maurizio Quarello
The Bestiary of Borges according to Maurizio Quarello.
Unique Pop-Up that open the pages of Jorge Luis Borges’ masterpiece, the Manual of Fantastic Zoology. From an idea of Giuseppina Frassino, director of the Gallery, the exhibition of original works created by Maurizio Quarello, award-winning artist and illustrator of international fame.
Maurizio Quarello was born in 1974 in Turin. He studied graphic design, architecture and illustration in his native town and, on completing his studies he specialized and began working as illustrator in 2004, the crucial year of the Prix des Mediateurs Figures Futur at Salon du Livre de Montreuil and other three prizes gained at national illustration contests.
His first picture book, entitled “Babau cerca casa” came out in 2005 by Orecchio Acerbo and was awarded in Italy with Primo Voto as the best picture book of the year. Since then he has published about 40 books, in 21 countries of 5 continents, with companies such as Orecchio Acerbo (I), Sarbacane (F), Rouergue (F), Milan (F), Sterling Publishing (USA), Grupo SM (E), Barbara Fiore (E), Kumon (J) and Gerstenberg (D).
His books have received numerous awards in Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, Sweden and in Germany
FANTASTIC ZOOLOGY MANUAL
The inspiration of M. Quarello’s Master
“Jorge Luis Borges, in the prologue to the” Fantastic Zoological Manual “writes:” A child, they bring him for the first time to the zoo. This child will be anyone of us, or, inversely, we have been this child and forgot it. In the garden, in that terrible garden, the baby sees living animals he has ever seen: he sees jaguars, vultures, bison, and more strange yet, giraffes. “I remember that as a child, it was the aviary of vultures that fascinated me more. Charm and repulsion. I was watching those strange creatures like “Male Harpoons” with the eagle’s body and the bald head of old men (bankers, senators, senior European officials?). As long as the bad-tempered flesh that wandered around, or the mother, did not make me go away. So for me this is a return to the zoo, in this fantastic case, but also a return to the beloved “Manual” after thirty years. I may have been ten or eleven years old when I was so fascinated by this book and the creatures I described, and I designed all of it, and I designed the eighty-two Borges monsters on a quadrant, one by one.
That notebook went missing in one of the many moves, but the love for the “Manual” and the charm for the fantastic and monstrous creatures has remained and has materialized in this series of thirty tables. Plans I wanted to become pop-ups to try to create animals that have never lived. ”
Call of the Wild
illustrations by Maurizio Quarello – edited byOrecchio Acerbo.
Late nineteenth century. The years of the gold rush in Klondike.On the icy lands of Alaska, powerful dogs are needed to tow the sleds of seekers. And that’s why Buck is kidnapped. Strong and robust, it’s ideal for wetsuits. He immediately knows the brutality with which men exploit dogs, but also the rivalry within the pack.
From this he soon learns to be respected, but with men, while serving them with dedication, there is nothing to do. Without any mercy they are going to finish him by beating him, when John Thorton intervenes, and saves him. Gratitude is born, and love comes out.
However, neither one nor the other manage to erase that irresistible attraction to those dense and mysterious woods that seem to conceal another world, another life. An unforgettable novel, for the first time in large format accompanied by the extraordinary images of Maurizio Quarello.
