Chris Ware

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Chris Ware
Ware at the 2019 Texas Book Festival
BornFranklin Christenson Ware
(1967-12-28) December 28, 1967 (age 56)
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Area(s)Cartoonist
Notable works
Awards
Eisner Award
: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013

Harvey Award
: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2013
National Cartoonists Society Award: 1999, 2013
Guardian First Book Award: 2001

USA Hoi Fellow grant, 2006

Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967)[1] is an American cartoonist known for his Acme Novelty Library series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth (2000), Building Stories (2012) and Rusty Brown (2019). His works explore themes of social isolation, emotional torment and depression. He tends to use a vivid color palette and realistic, meticulous detail. His lettering and images are often elaborate and sometimes evoke the ragtime era or another early 20th-century American design style.

Ware often refers to himself in the publicity for his work in self-effacing, even withering tones. He is considered by some critics and fellow notable

illustrators and writers, such as Dave Eggers, to be among the best currently working in the medium; Canadian graphic-novelist Seth has said, "Chris really changed the playing field. After him, a lot of [cartoonists] really started to scramble and go, 'Holy [expletive], I think I have to try harder.'"[2]

Career

Born in

prestige format comic book from Eclipse Comics, and its publication even led to a brief correspondence between Ware and Timothy Leary
.

While still a sophomore at UT, Ware came to the attention of

Fantagraphics series Acme Novelty Library defied comics publishing conventions with every issue. The series featured a combination of new material as well as reprints of work Ware had done for the Texan (such as Quimby the Mouse) and the Chicago weekly paper Newcity. Ware's work appeared originally in Newcity before he moved on to his current "home", the Chicago Reader. Beginning with the 16th issue of Acme Novelty Library, Ware began self-publishing his work, while maintaining a relationship with Fantagraphics for distribution and storage. This was a return to Ware's early career, self-publishing such books as Lonely Comics and Stories as well as miniature digests of stories based on Quimby the Mouse
and an unnamed potato-like creature.

In recent years he has also been involved in editing (and designing) several books and book series, including the new reprint series of

Best American
series.

In 2007, Ware curated an exhibition for the Phoenix Art Museum focused on the non-comic work of five contemporary cartoonists. The exhibition, titled "UnInked: Paintings, Sculpture and Graphic Works by Five Cartoonists", ran from April 21 through August 19.[4] Ware also edited and designed the catalog for the exhibition.

In 2017, Ware's book Monograph appeared. It is a part-memoir, part-scrapbook retrospective of his career to that point. The New York Review of Books described it as "a grand tomb in the Egyptian mold, whose contents will tell anyone who breaks into it what this person’s life was like," adding that "it seems almost an invasion of privacy to enter this crypt."[5]

Style

Ware's art reflects early 20th-century American styles of cartooning and

Charles Schulz's post-WWII strip Peanuts and the cover designs of ragtime-era sheet music. Ware has spoken about finding inspiration in the work of artist Joseph Cornell[7] and cites Richard McGuire's strip Here as a major influence on his use of non-linear narratives.[8] Ware has said of his own style:

I arrived at my way of "working" as a way of visually approximating what I feel the tone of fiction to be in prose versus the tone one might use to write biography; I would never do a biographical story using the deliberately synthetic way of cartooning I use to write fiction. I try to use the rules of typography to govern the way that I "draw", which keeps me at a sensible distance from the story as well as being a visual analog to the way we remember and conceptualize the world. I figured out this way of working by learning from and looking at artists I admired and whom I thought came closest to getting at what seemed to me to be the "essence" of comics, which is fundamentally the weird process of reading pictures, not just looking at them. I see the black outlines of cartoons as visual approximations of the way we remember general ideas, and I try to use naturalistic color underneath them to simultaneously suggest a perceptual experience, which I think is more or less the way we actually experience the world as adults; we don't really "see" anymore after a certain age, we spend our time naming and categorizing and identifying and figuring how everything all fits together. Unfortunately, as a result, I guess sometimes readers get a chilled or antiseptic sensation from it, which is certainly not intentional, and is something I admit as a failure, but is also something I can't completely change at the moment.[9]

Although his precise, geometrical layouts may appear to some to be computer-generated, Ware works almost exclusively with manual drawing tools such as paper and ink, rulers and T-squares. He does, however, sometimes use photocopies and transparencies, and he employs a computer to color his strips.

Recurring characters and stories

Ware looking to the side
Ware in 2009

Quimby the Mouse

silent movie". Ware's ingenuity is neatly shown in this willingness to break from the confines of the page. Quimby the Mouse appears in the logo of a Chicago-based bookstore "Quimby's", although their shared name was originally a coincidence.[10]

Rusty Brown

Ware's Rusty Brown focuses on the titular character, examining his life in the present and through flashbacks of his childhood, focusing on his arrested development and attachment to cultural objects. As the story expands, it diverges into multiple storylines about Brown's father's early life in the 1950s as a science fiction writer (Acme Novelty Library #19) and his best friend Chalky White's adult home life. The first part of Rusty Brown was published in book form in 2019 by Pantheon Books.[11]

Building Stories

Ware's

New York Times Magazine. Building Stories appeared weekly in the New York Times Magazine from September 18, 2005 until April 16, 2006. A full chapter was published in Acme Novelty Library, number 18. Another installment was published under the title "Touch Sensitive" as a digital app released through McSweeneys.[13] The entire narrative was published as a boxed set of books by Pantheon in October 2012.[14][15][16]
The boxed set holds 14 different works, in various sizes and forms, weaving through the life of an unnamed brown haired woman.

The Last Saturday

Ware's latest project, The Last Saturday, a "comic novella," began appearing online every Friday at the website of the UK newspaper The Guardian, starting in September 2014. The story follows a few people in Sandy Port, Michigan: Putnam Gray, a young boy caught up in his sci-fi and space fantasies; Sandy Grains, a young girl and classmate who is interested in Putnam; Rosie Gentry, a young girl and classmate with whom Putnam is infatuated; Mr. and Mrs. Gray and Mrs. Grains. The strip also features in the newspaper's Weekend magazine.

The serialization has now apparently ended after 54 instalments. The bottom right-hand corner of the last page has a note that says, "END, PART ONE", but as of 2020, there appears to be no indication from The Guardian or from Ware that there is to be a Part Two.

Non-comics work

Ware is an ardent collector of

Reginald R. Robinson, the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and Guido Nielsen.[18]

He has also designed covers and posters for non-ragtime performers such as Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire and 5ive Style.[19] In October 2005 Ware designed the elaborate cover art for Penguin Books' new edition of Voltaire's Candide.

Ware was commissioned by Chip Kidd to design the inner machinations of the bird on the cover of Haruki Murakami's novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.[20]

In 2003-04, Ware worked with Ira Glass of This American Life and Chicago historian Tim Samuelson to illustrate and design Lost Buildings about Samuelson and the preservation of Chicago's old buildings, particularly Louis Sullivan's buildings.[21][22] Originally produced for a live "Lost in America" stage show in 2003, Lost Buildings was later published as a book and DVD.[23] In 2007-08, he produced animations for the This American Life television series on Showtime[21] and also contributed to the show as a color consultant. Ware created poster art for Tamara Jenkins' 2007 film The Savages and her 2018 film Private Life.

Mural for 826 Valencia

Dave Eggers commissioned Ware to design the mural for the facade of San Francisco literacy project 826 Valencia.[24] The mural depicts "the parallel development of humans and their efforts at and motivations for communication, spoken and written."[25] The 3.9m x 6m mural was applied by artisans to Ware’s specifications.[24] Describing the work, Ware said "I didn’t want it to make anyone 'feel good', especially in that typically muralistic 'hands across the water' sort of way,"..."I especially wanted it to be something that people living in the neighbourhood could look at day after day and hopefully not tire of too quickly. I really hoped whomever might happen to come across it would find something that showed a respect for their intelligence, and didn’t force-feed them any 'message'."[24]

Fortune 500 cover

In 2010, Ware designed the cover for

Fortune magazine's "Fortune 500" issue, but it was rejected.[26] Ware had mentioned the work at a panel at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo on April 16, as first noted in an April 20 blog post by Matthew J. Brady.[27] The cover, featuring the circle-shaped humans common in Ware's more broadly socially satirical comic-strips, turned the numbers 500 into skyscrapers looming over the continental United States. On the roofs, corporate bosses drink, dance, and sun themselves as a helicopter drops a shovelful of money down for them. Below, among signs reading "Credit Default Swap Flea Market," "Greenspan Lube Pro," and "401K Cemetery," a helicopter scoops money out of the US Treasury with a shovel, cars pile up in Detroit, and flag-waving citizens party around a boiling tea kettle in the shape of an elephant. In the Gulf of Mexico, homes are sinking, while hooded prisoners sit in Guantanamo, a "Factory of Exploitation" keeps going in Mexico, China is tossing American dollars into the Pacific, and the roof of bankrupted Greece's Treasury has blown off. A spokesperson for the magazine only said that, as is their practice, they had commissioned a number of possible covers from different artists, including Ware.[28] Brady wrote in his blog that Ware said at the panel he "accepted the job because it would be like doing the [cover for the] 1929 issue of the magazine".[27]

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

In 2011, Ware created the poster for the U.S. release of the 2010 film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul.[29] Describing the poster, Ware said "I wanted to get at both the transcendent solemnity of the film while keeping some sense of its loose, very unpretentious accessibility... This being a poster, however—and even worse, me not really being a designer—I realized it also had to be somewhat punchy and strange, so as to draw viewers in and pique their curiosity without, hopefully, insulting their intelligence."[30]

Awards and honors

Over the years his work garnered several awards, including the 1999 National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Comic Book for Acme Novelty Library and Award for Graphic Novel for Building Stories.

Ware has won numerous

Jimmy Corrigan), 2002, 2006 (Acme Novelty Library Annual Report for Shareholders) and 2013 (Building Stories
)

Ware has won multiple

Jimmy Corrigan), 2004 (Acme Novelty Datebook) and 2013 (Building Stories
)

In 2002, Ware became the first comics artist to be invited to exhibit at

University of Nebraska's Sheldon Museum of Art, in 2007.[31]

Ware's graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth won the 2001 Guardian First Book Award, the first time a graphic novel has won a major United Kingdom book award.[34] It also won the prize for best album at the 2003 Angoulême International Comics Festival in France.

In 2006, Ware received a USA Hoi Fellow grant from United States Artists.[35]

In 2013, Ware received the 2013 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize for

Jan Michalski Prize for Literature[36] and Los Angeles Times Book Prize
.

In 2020, Ware's Rusty Brown was nominated for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award.[37]

In 2021, he was awarded the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême for his lifelong achievement.[38]

Bibliography

  • Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth.
    ISBN 0224062107
    .
  • Quimby the Mouse. Fantagraphics Books. 2003.
    ISBN 1560974559
    .
  • The Acme Novelty Library. New York: Pantheon. 2005.
    ISBN 9780375422959
    .
  • Acme Novelty Datebook. Drawn & Quarterly. 2007.
    ISBN 9781897299180
    .
  • Building Stories. Pantheon Books. 2012.
    ISBN 9780224078122
    .
  • The Acme Novelty Datebook: Sketches and Diary Pages in Facsimile. Drawn & Quarterly. 2013.
    ISBN 978-1896597669
  • Monograph. New York: Rizzoli. 2017.
    ISBN 9780847860883
    .
  • Rusty Brown, Part I. New York: Pantheon. 2019.
    ISBN 9780375424328
    .

References

  1. ^ Ball, p. xiii
  2. ^ "Building Stories: PRAISE & AWARDS" (Press release). May 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  3. ^ Chris Ware bio at Fantagraphics
  4. ^ UnInked: Paintings, Sculpture and Graphic Work by Five Cartoonists Archived March 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved March 2, 2010
  5. ^ Boxer, Sarah. "Being Chris Ware | Sarah Boxer". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  6. ^ Raeburn (2004)
  7. ^ Pantheon Graphic Novels Archived February 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Ware, Chris (Summer 2006). "Richard McGuire and 'Here'". Comic Art. 8.
  9. ^ Chris Ware - On Cartooning | PBS
  10. ^ "Quimby's :: Mission". April 2004. Archived from the original on 22 November 2006. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  11. ISBN 978-0375424328
    .
  12. S2CID 194415161
    .
  13. S2CID 162112188
    .
  14. ^ "New Chris Ware project". Pantheon Books. October 13, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  15. ^ "Chris Ware Building Stories revealed" (Press release). Pantheon Books. May 21, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  16. ^ "Building Stories" (Press release). Random House. May 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  17. ^ Wondrich, David (January 21, 2001). "Ragtime: No Longer A Novelty In Sepia". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  18. ^ Melton, Larry (October 27, 2019). "Graphic novelist Chris Ware discusses the leitmotif of Ragtime in his life and work". The Syncopated Times. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  19. ^ "Album Artwork". Acme Novelty Library Archive. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  20. ^ "Haruki Murakami at Random House". Random House. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  21. ^ a b Ball, p. xvii
  22. ^ Ball, p. 13
  23. ^ Ball, p. 118
  24. ^ a b c Thompson, David (2001). "Chris Ware's new mural tells the story of the human race". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  25. ^ "Our Façade". 826 Valencia. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  26. ^ ComicsBeat.com Archived April 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ a b "C2E2 2010: The Pantheon panel, featuring Chris Ware and Dash Shaw".
  28. ^ "Fortune Magazine Rejects Satirical Chris Ware Cover". Archived from the original on 2010-04-26. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  29. ^ "Vulture Premieres the Poster for Cannes Hit Uncle Boonmee, Designed by Chris Ware". Vulture. New York. 2011-02-08. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  30. ^ Glaser, Sheila (2011-05-23). "Ghost Stories". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  31. ^ a b Ball, p. 65
  32. ^ "Exhibitions: Masters of American Comics". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2010-08-10.. .
  33. ^ Kimmelman, Michael. "See You in the Funny Papers" (art review), The New York Times, October 13, 2006
  34. ^ "Graphic novel wins First Book Award". The Guardian. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. 2001-12-06. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  35. ^ USA Fellows 2006 Visual Arts: Chris Ware Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, United States Artists
  36. ^ "Edition 2013". Jan Michalski Foundation. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  37. ^ "2020 PEN/Jean Stein Finalists". 2020-01-17.
  38. ^ Potet, Frédéric (2021-06-23). "Festival de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême : Chris Ware, un Grand Prix très proustien". Le Monde.

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Ware.
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