Olivier Kugler

Olivier Kugler (* 1970 in Stuttgart ) is a German comic book artist and illustrator who lives and works in London . He is the son of the German artist Klaus Kugler .

life and work

Kugler studied graphic design in Pforzheim and then went to New York to work as a freelance graphic illustrator for two and a half years, initially with little success . At the “ School of Visual Arts ” in New York, he continued his education in the “Illustration as visual essay” program, which teaches and propagates drawing on site and found his current style there. Because of the better conditions for illustrators and because of love, Kugler then moved to London , where he has lived for decades.

Kugler's focus is drawn reports in which he depicts the everyday lives of people he has met and accompanied in various places around the world. He draws u. a. for The Guardian , Süddeutsche Zeitung , Gentlemen's Quarterly (German edition), The New York Times and The New Yorker .

In 2011 he accompanied a drawing and a. the UK elections, the royal wedding and he portrayed a fisherman in Ghana. In 2012 he visited the victims of the drought in Burkina Faso for Oxfam and The Guardian , he reported on the unrest in Egypt on Tahrir Square and portrayed a truck driver in Iran. “I love drawing on site,” says Kugler himself. In December 2013 he traveled with Médecins sans Frontières to the Domiz refugee camp, located in Kurdish Iraq on the border with Syria.

He had already traveled to Laos in 2009 , where he met the veterinarian Bertrand Bouchard , who takes care of elephants in lumberjack camps in a remote area. He joined the vet who works for the animal welfare organization “ElefantAsia” on a week-long mission through the jungle. This resulted in the graphic novel With the Elephant Doctor in Laos , which was also published in German in 2013. “You learn a lot about the country, its inhabitants and, above all, the problems of everyday life”, according to one review.

Kugler received positive reviews. “It shows where drawing can be superior to photography,” said Rob Ryan, artist and judge for the V&A Illustration award, journalist and jury member Bel Mooney added that Kugler combined “the detail, the Wealth, the energy, the humor to give us a humane insight into another world. "

In addition, Kugler also draws portraits, for example by Jonathan Franzen , 50 Cent and Tony Blair .

His graphic novel escaped to the war appeared after the original English and a German version 2019 is now available in Spanish throughout the Spanish-speaking world, the publisher Turner in Spain and Hueders in Chile. In addition, the book was nominated for the Medical Book Award in 2019 , which is presented by the British Medical Association .

style

Kugler describes Hergé as the main reason for becoming a draftsman and also names comic artists such as Jean Giraud , Jacques Tardi , François Bourgeon and Joe Sacco as well as David Hockney and Otto Dix as the most important drawing influences .

He himself calls his work "Illustrations with text in reportage style , the finished drawings are a combination of a travel diary and a travel sketchbook".

Text is an important part of his job and he often incorporates conversations that he hears on site.

Publications

• With the elephant doctor in Laos , Edition Moderne , Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03731-113-4 .
• Escaped the war , Edition Moderne, Zurich 2017, ISBN 978-3-03731-167-7 .

Awards

• 2006 V&A Illustration Award (Illustration Award of the Victoria and Albert Museum ) (for the series "Kugler's People")
• 2011 V&A Illustration Award (for "Un thé en Iran")

Web links

• Official website
• Burkina Faso: portraits of poverty and hope, by Olivier Kugler: Video interview and report in: The Guardian , December 4, 2012, accessed October 20, 2013.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A graphic life, Olivier Kugler: illustrator, 2012
2. ↑ site olivierkugler.com
3. ↑ exhibition Olivier Kugler at Fumetto 2014 ( Memento of the original April 22, 2014 Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ With the elephant doctor in Laos, FB-Comix, 2013
5. ^ Travel Journal wins V&A Illustration Award , The Guardian, June 7, 2011
6. ↑ Medical book awards , accessed November 11, 2019
7. ↑ Award-winning Edition Moderne authors , Edition Moderne from July 23, 2019, accessed November 11, 2019
8. ↑ A graphic life, Olivier Kugler: illustrator, 2012
9. ↑ Olivier Kugler's Reportage Illustration ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Olivier Kugler, Making Great Illustration, 2011 ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.