Simon Schwartz

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Simon Schwartz at the Erlangen Comic Salon 2014

Simon Schwartz (born October 5, 1982 in Erfurt ) is a German comic book artist, comic author and illustrator. His two comic novels Over there! and pack ice have received several awards. He also publishes short comics and illustrations in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , Zeit and other newspapers and magazines.

biography

When his parents left the GDR , Simon Schwartz was one and a half years old; he grew up afterwards in West Berlin ( Kreuzberg district ). As a schoolboy and two years after graduating from high school, he worked for Mosaik Verlag . From 2004 to 2009 he studied illustration with Anke Feuchtenberger at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) . His first long comic Over there! he wrote here as a thesis. The work, like the follow-up project Packeis , was published by Berlin-based Avant-Verlag .

Glass facade of the Andreasstrasse memorial and educational center (Photo: 2014)

Simon Schwartz describes the work on "graphic novels" as a preferred activity, but sees himself primarily as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines, as he cannot cover his living costs with those works on which he has worked for about two years. Since 2008 he has been working regularly for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Short comics that appeared in taz in 2009 and in Cicero in 2010 are included in the expanded new edition of Drüben! been recorded. In the summer of 2010, a regular comic from him appeared in the political section of the time . In 2013, the series Vita Obscura followed in Freitag . The children's magazine GEOlino and the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel also publish his illustrations.

Schwartz also drew the template for a 7 × 40 meter glass facade on the "Cube", the Andreasstrasse memorial , the former remand prison of the Erfurt District Ministry for State Security . He now holds a teaching position for illustration at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and plays the saxophone in various jazz formations.

Work and influence

Simon Schwartz cites Anke Feuchtenberger as an important influence. He refers less to their style than to their way of working. She teaches her students a seriousness in work and the ability to absorb new influences in their own way. In his own works as well as those of others, Schwartz attaches great importance to the fact that text and drawings form a unit and are treated equally. He is more likely to overlook drawing defects, which he discovers in the first few pages of Persepolis , than beautifully drawn works with a flat story, to which he counts Blacksad . The mosaic artist Hannes Hegen is an important stylistic influence, as are US illustrators from the 1950s and current artists such as Seth and Chris Ware , the latter especially because of his innovative narrative technique. Schwartz also appreciates Bud Fisher's Mutt and Jeff and other early comic strips, as well as the French David B. and Joann Sfar , especially because of their imagination and love of storytelling .

Over there!

For his debut comic, Simon Schwartz researched his parents' departure from the GDR. Over there! was published in the week from September 28th to October 2nd, 2009 and was in bookshops on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall , a happy coincidence according to Schwartz. The comic won the ICOM Independent Comic Prize 2010 in the category "Outstanding Scenario" and was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize in the same year . In 2011 it was published in French and in 2013 in the fifth edition in German.

Pack ice

In pack ice , the story of Matthew Henson , a long-forgotten African-American polar explorer, is processed. Published as a book in March 2012, the beginning had already been preprinted in four installments in Comix magazine . Packeis won the Max and Moritz Prize 2012 as “Best German-language comic” . In 2013 the work was also published in French.

Vita Obscura

The series of half-page comic strips was published in 2013 in the weekly newspaper der Freitag . It is reminiscent of the Sunday pages of early American newspaper comics. Mostly the episodes implement biographies of eccentric personalities, sometimes other historical topics are also adapted. An example of the latter is the episode titled Eight Interesting Causes of Death from Burmese Rulers. Each strip has its own layout, Schwartz works with different techniques such as collage or charcoal drawing. Some parts were also published in the comic magazine Alfonz , in 2014 the series was published as a book.

ICON

In March 2018, IKON was published by avant-verlag. The story, based on true events, follows the Russian Gleb Botkin, who as the son of Yevgeny Sergejewitsch Botkin , personal physician of the Russian Tsar , witnessed the October Revolution and lost his closest confidante - the Tsar's daughter Anastasia . Years later, in American exile, the icon painter Botkin meets a mentally ill woman who pretends to be his lost Anastasia and who lays claim to the Russian throne.

Exhibitions

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Stephan Schunck: Made in Germany. The Alfonz draftsman portrait . Episode 1: Simon Schwartz. Always keep an eye on the story . In: Alfonz - The comic reporter . 1/2013, Jan / Feb / Mar. Edition Alfons , Verlag Volker Hamann, 2013, ISSN  2194-2706 , DNB  1021857351 , p. 42 f .
  2. ^ A b c d e Matthias Hofmann: From the former GDR to the North Pole. Interview with Simon Schwartz, the artist from “over there!” And “Packeis” . In: Zack . No. 152 . Mosaik Steinchen for Steinchen Verlag, February 2012, ISSN  1438-2792 , DNB  020631308 , p. 54-57 .
  3. ↑ Simon Schwartz: Over there! expanded 5th edition. Avant-Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-939080-37-4 , pp. 114-116 .
  4. ↑ Kathrin Schunke: Memorial goes graphic novel. A viable concept? Gesellschaft für Zeitgeschichte eV, 2012, archived from the original on January 6, 2014 ; accessed on January 2, 2014 .
  5. ↑ a b Simon Schwartz: Over there! expanded 5th edition. Avant-Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-939080-37-4 , Britta Keutgen and Felix Giesa conducted an interview with Simon Schwartz in July 2010 for the COMIC! Yearbook 2011., p. 110–114 (excerpt from the interview).
  6. ↑ New publications. 2009. The new publications of the 40th calendar week 2009 (September 28th - October 2nd, 2009). German Comic Guide , accessed January 4, 2014 .
  7. ↑ De l'autre côté (Black). Bedetheque, accessed June 24, 2014 (French).
  8. ↑ Simon Schwartz: Pack ice . In: Comix . No. 12/2011 - 03/2012 . JNK, Verlag Jurgeit, Krismann & Nobst, Berlin 2012, DNB  1014791847 .
  9. ↑ Dans les glaces. Bedetheque, accessed June 24, 2014 (French).
  10. ^ Vita Obscura. German Comic Guide , accessed June 24, 2014 .
  11. ↑ Avant Publishing House: IKON | avant-Verlag. Retrieved December 28, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Schwartz, Simon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German comic artist and author
DATE OF BIRTH 5th October 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Erfurt