Willi Blöß

Willi Blöss
at the 2018 Comiciade in Aachen

Willi Blöß (born October 12, 1958 in Myhl ) is a German comic author , illustrator and cartoonist .

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Life

Mural Comiciade 2014 in Aachen (Blücherplatz).

Willi Blöß studied architecture from 1980 to 1985 at RWTH Aachen . Since the successful graduation he is u. a. works as a freelance illustrator.

In addition to his work for advertising agencies and publishers, he illustrated numerous comics . From 1987 to 1991 he was a translator at the Schreiber & Reader publishing house . From 1987 to 1992 he published the comic magazine OUTSIDE with young German and French artists as editor and with his own cartoon series. The magazine appeared with a total of 21 issues. From 1992 to 1996 he was a comic reviewer for the daily newspaper Aachener Nachrichten with his own entire monthly page. From 1993 to 1996 he was a lecturer for graphic storytelling at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences .

C&A advertised a yellow dog with red dots, which had the name Schnuppi and was developed by the designer Jimmy T. Murakami in May 1976 in Ireland. The fashion house advertised with him until the 1990s (“trial prices at C&A”). The Schnupperhund also played the leading role in a series of commercials under the title Schnuppis Abenteuer , which Willi Blöß - together with Thomas Henseler - wrote and illustrated. There were other promotional items such as stuffed animals and plastic figures, also by Blöß and Henseler designed were.

Since 2000, Willi Blöß has concentrated exclusively on building his series with artist comic biographies. Since then, a new work has been published about every 8 months (as of October 2019: 33 volumes). Texted and drawn by Blöß (for 6 titles collaboration with guest artists) and published by Willi Blöß Verlag (family business with wife Beatriz López-Caparrós). In 2002, the first five titles in the series were published as mini-graphic novels . Some titles are also published - translated into the respective national language - in the United States and Spain (by Sd-edicions). In 2011 he took part in the Free Comic Day with his publisher and the Frida Kahlo edition .

In April 2014 Blöß took part in the first Comiciade in the Ludwig Forum for International Art in Aachen .

In 2018, the volumes on Joseph Beuys and Nam June Paik were translated into Chinese on the occasion of the exhibition Lettres du Voyant: Joseph Beuys x Nam June Paik in the HOW Art Museum in Shanghai and offered on site by the museum. At the same time, the complete booklets were presented to the public in reading showcases in front of the museum.

In 2019 the volume about Keith Haring was published in English on the occasion of two exhibitions in Luxembourg City ( NEXT STOP: ART ). One exhibition is in Bank Degroof Petercam, the other in an art gallery.

Blöß has lived and worked in Aachen since 1979.

Exhibitions (selection)

• 2012: Artist biographies in the Eschweiler valley station
• 2017: Group exhibition : New ways to art in the Eschweiler valley station

Awards and honors (selection)

• 2012: German Biography Prize for his biography series

Willi Blöß in February 2019

Publications (selection)

• Once upon a time there was Aix… comics from Aachen. Aachen 1994, ISBN 3-9801981-0-3 .
• Aachen: the history of a great city. Aachen 2013, ISBN 978-3-86712-082-1 .
• Artist biographies. Aachen from 2002.
  • Volume 1: Pablo Picasso, I, the King. ISBN 978-3-938182-06-2 .
  • Volume 2: Andy Warhol, The Factory. ISBN 978-3-938182-05-5 .
  • Volume 3: Joseph Beuys, The Smiling Shaman. Drawings: Bernd Jünger, ISBN 978-3-938182-03-1 .
  • Volume 4: Vincent van Gogh, Raven Hunt. ISBN 978-3-938182-07-9 .
  • Volume 5: Hieronymus Bosch, Devil's Work. ISBN 978-3-938182-20-8 .
  • Volume 6: Frida Kahlo, Viva Mexico. ISBN 978-3-938182-00-0 .
  • Volume 7: Niki de Saint Phalle, Nanas and Papas. ISBN 978-3-938182-01-7 .
  • Volume 8: Keith Haring: Next stop: Art. ISBN 978-3-938182-02-4 .
  • Volume 9: Salvador Dalí, The Paranoia Method. ISBN 978-3-938182-08-6 .
  • Volume 10: Egon Schiele, In Vienna is shadow. ISBN 978-3-938182-09-3 .
  • Volume 11: Otmar Alt, Count Öppenpöller is honored. ISBN 978-3-938182-10-9 .
  • Volume 12: Horst Janssen, Messerwetzel. ISBN 978-3-938182-11-6 .
  • Volume 13: Nam June Paik. Electric warrior. ISBN 978-3-938182-12-3 .
  • Volume 14: Der Blaue Reiter, Munich team. ISBN 978-3-938182-13-0 .
  • Volume 15: George Grosz, The Riot of the Mad. ISBN 978-3-938182-14-7 .
  • Volume 16: Klaus Staeck, No more fun. ISBN 978-3-938182-15-4 .
  • Volume 17: Romanticism, William Turner and Caspar David Friedrich. ISBN 978-3-938182-16-1 .
  • Volume 18: Paula Modersohn-Becker, Worpswede. ISBN 978-3-938182-21-5 .
  • Volume 19: Hundertwasser. ISBN 978-3-938182-23-9 .
  • Volume 20: Gustav Klimt and Art Nouveau. ISBN 978-3-938182-24-6 .
  • Volume 21: At the pool with David Hockney. ISBN 978-3-938182-25-3 .
  • Volume 22: Edward Hopper, Nighthawks. ISBN 978-3-938182-26-0 .
  • Volume 23: The Wars of Robert Capa. ISBN 978-3-938182-27-7 .
  • Volume 24: Peter Paul Rubens. ISBN 978-3-938182-28-4 .
  • Volume 25: Magritte and the dead from the river. ISBN 978-3-938182-29-1 .
  • Volume 26: Camille Claudel meets Auguste Rodin. ISBN 978-3938182-30-7 .
  • Volume 27: Wilhelm Busch lets it rip. ISBN 978-3-938182-32-1 .
  • Volume 28: Rembrandt, The Man Without a Gold Helmet. ISBN 978-3-938182-34-5 .
  • Volume 29: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, The Bridge. ISBN 978-3-938182-35-2 .
  • Volume 30: Dürer, Death and the Devil. ISBN 978-3-938182-36-9 .
  • Volume 31: Tamara de Lempicka, Art Déco in a convertible. ISBN 978-3-938182-37-6 .
  • Volume 32: Goya, When Reason Sleeps. ISBN 978-3-938182-39-0 .
  • Volume 33: Edvard Munch The Scream ISBN 978-3-938182-40-6 .
  • Volume 34: Claude Monet - The Invention of Impressionism ISBN 978-3-938182-41-3 .
  • Volume 35: Gauguin - South Sea Dreams ISBN 978-3-938182-42-0 .
  • Volume 36: Peggy Guggenheim - The Collector ISBN 978-3-938182-43-7 .

Web links

Commons : Willi Blöß  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Website from Willi Blöß

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schnupperhund Online-Museum , accessed on August 24, 2015.
2. ↑ Approval for a private trial dog website from C&A Mode KG from October 26, 2004.
3. ↑ Comiciade: Willi Blöß ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2014 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. , Accessed August 24, 2015. 
4. ↑ Comic artist Willi Blöß shows 20 artist biographies , accessed on August 24, 2015
5. ^ German Biography Prize , accessed on October 22, 2019.