Guest of the ilb 2007
Vladimir Radunsky was born in
the Ural Mountains in 1954 and grew up in Moscow, where he studied art,
design and architecture. In 1982 he moved to New York and started
working as a designer of art books, gradually moving into writing and
illustrating children’s books. Radunsky's dynamic style and curious
stories quickly made him famous. Since then he has published more than
twenty works, which have been translated into numerous languages,
received many awards, and been exhibited in France, Italy, Japan and
the USA. From early on in his career, the trademark of Radunsky’s art
has been apparent: he creates unconventional books, richly diverse in
text and images, and employs styles and techniques ranging from those
of realist painters to stylized advertising posters of the thirties to
abstract collages. Radunsky comments on the diversity of his work: »The
technique and style I choose for each new book depends entirely on its
subject. I don't draw pictures, I create books.« Vladimir Radunsky had
emphasized this point with his early illustrated books »The Pup Grew
Up!« (1989) and »Hail to Mail« (1990). He subsequently worked with
writer Bill Martin Jr., and their collaborative picture book »The
Maestro Plays« (1994) inspired animated short films for »Sesame
Street«. He used an original blend of painting and collage for
illustrations for children’s songs by the American trade unionist and
songwriter Woody Guthrie (among them »Howdi Do«, 2000), while the
award-winning work »What Does Peace Feel Like?« (2004) grew out of
talks with school children in the USA and Europe. Among Radunsky’s most
well-known works is »The Mighty Asparagus« (2004), inspired by the
Italian Renaissance painting. Here he presents the curious story of a
magical kingdom: one day an enormous asparagus shoots out of the ground
in front of the royal palace and the king bids his entire entourage –
the enchanting princess, the king’s beloved rhino and the brave knight
– to help him. The picture book was named »Best Illustrated Book of the
Year« by »The New York Times Book Review«. In 2004 »# 10 (ten)« was
published in German translation, the story of an armadillo couple who
are thrilled at the birth of ten adorable armadillo babies. Here
Radunsky captivates his audience with exciting combination of collage,
painting and typography, disregarding formal laws of layout and
composition. In »Le grand bazar« (2006), published in France (the
original version written in English and entitled »Big Busy Book« has
not been released yet), the artist once more proves his gift for
creating lively picture books: illustrations in the style of paintings,
punch-out postcards and a myriad of printed models and objects for use
invite readers from »ages 5-105« to be creative with scissors, pen and
stapler. In collaboration with the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, Radunsky
recently produced the absurdly comical fairytale »Because…« (2007)
about a chubby ballerina. The book has received critical acclaim and
has been named on the New York Times Bestseller list. His latest book
»Where the Giant Sleeps«, written by an Australian poet, Mem Fox, is
coming out in October. The Russian New Yorker currently lives in Rome
with his wife, daughters, and a dachshund.
© international literature festival berlin
Vladimir Radunsky online: www.vladimirradunsky.com
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