The jury of the 19th Euro-Kartoenale Kruishoutem 2013 'The Bicycle'
André NOLLET, voorzitter
For many years already André Nollet has been the president of the jury of the Euro-kartoenale.
He was teacher publicity art at the Karel De Grote High School in Antwerp and still has his own creation agency Nollet Cartoon & Creatie. His speciality is imagining and realising campaigns in connection with security, environment, anti-pest, sensitization,,… which he develops through cartoons.
Every day he makes cartoons for the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws – local edition – caricaturising the current events in Ghent. As friend of and in succession to Brasser, he draws for the weekly ‘t Pallieterke, from May 2002 till now. Furthermore he works as cartoonist for numerous companies and organizations such as Electrabel, Quickstep, Volvo Cars, the Belgian railways, trade unions,…
In 2009 he had an important exhibition in the European Cartoon Center of Kruishoutem: André Nollet – 40 years of cartoons”.
For André a cartoon has to be a deep one or to the point.
Alessandro Gatto
Alessandro Gatto was born in 1957 in Castelfranco Veneto where he actually lives and develops his activity of designer and painter. He has a list of many jobs executed for Italian companies and public corporations and from other countries (United States, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Algeria, England, Greece, Germany,…).
Since 1985 he has been involved in many illustrations and humoristic graphics. He also takes part in reviews and collective exhibitions in Italy and abroad. He won a lot of cartoon rewards, and in 2009 and 2011 he won the first prize in the Euro-Kartoenale Kruishoutem.
Gatto is one of the most successful cartoonists actually. His drawing may be considered as masterpieces.
KT Haes (Herman Somers)
After a training in painting and drawing Herman began to work with silk-screen printing and etching. To put those "serious" disciplines into perspective he started drawing cartoons, initially with success, until he started to become more interested in the cartoonists themselves. Result: different organizations and publications about cartoons and cartoonists. Currently he is the editor of the cartoon magazine "Scherper”.
Herman summarized in three key words:
- Limited: the older I get, while having more and more experience, the more I realize that I am limited in my skills and knowledge.
- Versatile: fits perfectly with the previous term, I am limited versatile, and I know and can do many things to a limited extent.
- Ambitious: a character trait that I did not suspected yet. Very recently I came to the conclusion that I like to take charge in a discreet way.
"Through my training and my own view, I focus quite heavily on the pictorial and graphic appearance, sometimes at the expense of the idea or the humor of the cartoon. I will try to find a healthy balance between image and message."
Pawel Kuczynski
Pawel Kuczynski was born in 1976 in Szczecin, in northern Poland near the German border. In 2001 he graduated in Graphic Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. He worked as an illustrator for several newspapers in Poland.
In 2004 he began to draw cartoons. In his career as cartoonist, he already did win over 100 prizes and honorable mentions in Belgium, Brazil, China, Iran, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Turkey ... In 2009, he won the second prize in our Euro-Kartoenale 'Sand, pebble and gravel’.
His surrealistic work is full of visual metaphors and black humor. He is very committed and hard in its political and social diagnostics. Among Pawel’s works, there are also purely humorous drawings and others based on playing with form, subtle, even poetic in their expression.
You find some examples of his work on www.toonpool.com
IAN (Jan De Graeve)
Jan De Graeve, also one of the regular members of the jury, gives ironic commentary on the Belgian political world.
He makes drawings in different publications, but now he confines himself principally to graphical contributions in the weekly "Knack".
He has a characteristic simplified style of drawing. He was also the first to introduce text-balloons in political cartoons.
As member of the jury he attaches great importance to the direct approach, the "double bottom" and a unique graphical style.
Pol Leurs
Pol Leurs was born in Luxembourg in 1947, and he is the father of three adult son. His career as an engineer has not prevented him from becoming one of the greatest cartoonists of his country.
Since 1976 he had 13 solo exhibitions. To this date, he has won more than 60 international prices: the first time in Berlin in 1980 and in 1983 he won first prize in the Euro-Kartoenale Kruishoutem "Agriculture". He has published four cartoon books in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012. He is also president of the jury of the Salon International de la Caricature et Cartoon Vianden.
His style is deliberately simple, non-aggressive and almost always without text. His art is a game between the image and the imaginary, the viewer is caught surprised by the detail that makes him laugh. Good observer, Pol plays with preconceived images of everyday life. His humor is a benevolent wink, sometimes with a hint of social criticism. He likes to laugh without hurting. The aesthetic is of great importance in his eyes and the message must be fully conveyed by the image, without further explanation.
GRIET
Griet Blockx was born in 1978.
In the beginning she didn’t quite know what she wanted to do in life, but to be a cartoonist was not the first thing she had in mind. After secondary school she choose a typical female profession: nursing. After three years she got what they call a “decent” diploma and she knew everything about catheters, syringes and viruses. But it is wrong to think that Griet got there the drawing virus.
After the nursing studies she went to the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool in Antwerp to have a formation of publicity design. You may think this has nothing to do with cartoons. But André Nollet took her into the world of the drawings, a very difficult task because Griet hardly knew the possibilities of the pencil. But it’s dogged does it.
During eight years now Griet is combining enthusiastic her part time job at the hospital with the drawing activities. What’s more, the “new-comer” became our house cartoonist for 2012, and as she is a woman, a “pièce unique” in the world of cartoonists.
Nowadays Griet is drawing every day actual politic cartoons. But she is also busy in private and publicity drawings.
Lejon (Leon De Borger)
Leon De Borger lives in Haasrode, near Leuven.
He was a teacher in special education, but is now retired. Today he still teaches at the Art Academies of Oud-Heverlee and Leuven, namely watercolor- and painting techniques and graphics.
He also draws (as Lejon) cartoons and caricatures. He has experience as a judge of cartoon competitions, f.e. in Antwerp, Olen and Lebbeke.
Leon is vice president of Feco Belgium and board member of the Flemish cartoonist organization Kever. He represents Kever in our jury.
"As a juror, I look primarily if the theme is shown in a humorous or satirical manner, and at the artistic drawing and painting techniques."
