Frankfurt Book Fair, October 2002
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Parents and children of all ages joined us in painting 8 canvases that formed one big mural at the Frankfurt Book Fair October 9-13. What started off as a trade show for publishers from all over the world ends up on the last 3 days open to the general public and more than 250,000 readers of all ages come through the doors. Cartoonists Across America & The World was invited to paint in the Comics Centre in Hall 3A by Andrea Fiala de Ayerbe, the project manager during the BookExpoAmerica show this past May in New York City. The Comics Centre which has programs run by Wolfgang Strzyz featuring international cartoonists in person and on display. The displays for the actual original artwork are truly first class. It was one of the nicest displays of comic art we have seen in our global travels. French Artist Lewis Trondheim was one of the featured artists with multiple pages on display. Cartoonists Across America & The World president Phil Yeh flew out to Germany to join the European office for the Frankfurt Book Fair. Left to right: Phil Yeh, Klaus Leven, Vice-President of CAA&TW European Office, art director and animator Alex Funk and Mario. Cartoonist Dylan Teo came all the way from Singapore to show his new graphic novel written by Lim Morrison aka Lim Cheng Tju who always takes us out for dim sum when we are in Singapore. We are hoping that Dylan and Morrison will see us in their country in 2003 for one of the best book shows on the planet. MAD cartoonist and Groo creator Sergio Aragones showed up for the weekend to draw one of his trademark detailed masterpieces on the canvases. Sergio was with Dino publishing which was next to us in the show. He was also there to give Alex and Klaus tips on "the biz". Student from the former East Germany painting with us. We had many talented young artists from all over the world spend time on this mural. As we spoke to the artists and the general public, we were asked what would it take to bring us to their country and as we always say, just send us an invitation and we will try our best to be there! French cartoonist Lewis Trondheim was one of the featured guests. His brilliant work was enjoyed by thousands of fans who appreciate great drawing. He was gracious enough to draw his rabbit on the mural for us to the delight of many fans with cameras. That's Klaus, Phil and Lewis posing for one of those photos that tells the audience that we are all now best friends. Conny Wolf (http://www.incomix.at) and Klaus Leven. Connie's work is called Oups. It is magical and brilliant. We hope to mount an event with her in her town near Austria in 2003. (left to right) Dylan Teo, Klaus Leven, Alex Funk and Phil Yeh with the finished mural behind them. The actual mural will be on display at the Frankfurt University Hospital for many more people to enjoy. Left to right: Alex Funk, Sergio Aragones, Klaus Leven and Phil Yeh for one last shot at the closing of the Frankfurt Book Fair -- those are the incredible displays for the artwork behind us. We would love to see this type of display in the United States at our comic book conventions. It would be a great way to really allow the public to view cartoon art as REAL ART. To top off the great event, we made tons of new friends and we were featured in the Lufhansa InFlight Magazin as well!
So many students and only one mural! Alex Funk was kept busy the entire 5 days as we worked long days to insure that the hundreds of kids who wanted to paint with us got that chance.
