Takehiko Inoue’s “Pepita: Inoue meets Gaudi” is a fantastic book for anyone who appreciates Inoue’s work but also is passionate for Gaudi’s work as well. Beautiful illustrations, detailed information with photos and just an overall entertaining book of one man’s passion of Antonio Gaudi’s work. Highly recommended!
TITLE: Pepita: Inoue meets Gaudi
BY: Takehiko Inoue
PUBLISHER: Viz Media
PAGE COUNT: 112
RELEASED: April 16, 2013
Takehiko Inoue is the creator of one of the most popular manga of all time, Slam Dunk, which has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. He followed that series up with two titles lauded by critics and fans alike— Vagabond, a fictional account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi, and Real, a manga about wheelchair basketball. Inoue is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and the Media Arts Festival Award. In addition to his work on manga, Inoue has worked on television commercials, character designs for video games, and is the founder of a scholarship to foster Japanese basketball talent.
For manga and anime fans, Takehiko Inoue is best known for creating popular series such as “Slam Dunk” and Vagabond”. But when Takehiko visited Barcelona back in 1992 for the Olympics, the mangaka was captivated by the La Sagrada Familia.
In 2011, the artist decided to take a trip to Barcelona and visiting several of his architectural works and to experience as much of his work as possible and see if it changes his perception of when he went to Barcelona back in ’92. But also to explore Gaudi’s longings and aspirations.
The illustrator took his sketchbook and detailed his travel to Barcelona and writing about the experience for his book “Pepita: Inoue meets Gaudi”, from looking at the tree in Casa Mila, visiting Montserrat, visiting Gaudi’s second home in Mas de la Calderera and homes of Gaudi from his childhood, including a visit to the Casa Museu Gaudi. Talking with Gaudi scholar Ana Maria Ferrin, exploring Gaudi’s early works such as the Casa Vicens, featuring photos of his architectural work with detailed information about them, how Gaudi made sure the architecture blended into nature and not disturb it, preparing a chronicle of Gaudi’s work and more.
When it comes to the work of Antonio Gaudi, I have always been mesmerized by his work despite not having visited Barcelona.
My first glimpse of his work was through Hiroshi Teshigahara’s documentary “Antonio Gaudi”. Hiroshi Teshigahara, known for films such as the 1964 “Suna no Onna†(Woman in the Dunes), “Otoshianaâ€, “Akoâ€, “Tanin no kao†was a painter and a sculptor (Hiroshi Teshigahara graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music). Raised by Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of the Sogetsu School if Ikebana flower arranging, Sofu was also an artist and knew many well-known artists while growing up and introducing art to Hiroshi when he was younger.
As Hiroshi was pushing for an avante-garde style of art, he was also a blossoming filmmaker and one of his first early footage he shot was back in 1959 when he and his father going to Spain for the first time and even meeting Salvador Dali. It was at that time when he and his father were both enamored with the works of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. Teshigahara revisited Barcelona in 1984 and was able to create a film on the works of Antoni Gaudi. Showcasing Gaudi’s unique architecture all including his unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. And through home films, this was probably the first Japanese connection I saw of coverage of Antonio Gaudi’s work.
And here we are in 2013, over 50-years since Teshigahara made his documentary and this time with established and well-known mangaka, Takehiko Inoue revisting Barcelona 19-years after his trip to watch the 1992 Olympics. And his latest illustration book “Pepita: Inoue meets Gaudi” is not just a book of illustrations but it’s a celebration of Gaudi’s work.
I want to go to Barcelona and see these works of Antoni Gaudi! That’s how I felt after reading and seeing Inoue’s book.
Aside from illustrations (some combined with photos), there are also photos from Inoue’s trip with detailed information about the architecture but also about its surroundings. Inoue also puts his own thoughts, putting himself in the shoes of Gaudi and wondering how life would have been for him, while working on various architecture throughout his lifetime. May it be the way he was raised, or the work he did as a young man, Inoue tries to uncover a lot of information about Gaudi through his works but also even visiting a Gaudi scholar.
If anything, this book was born from Inoue’s passion for Antonio Gaudi’s work and wanting to know how people viewed him? How did that affect his view of others? Who is Antonio Gaudi?
And for an illustrator such as Inoue, the best way to convey and understand Gaudi’s work is by sketching his works one by one with his own hand, the best approach for him to take.
I felt that Hiroshi Teshigahara’s “Antonio Gaudi” gave us a look at his appreciation of Gaudi’s work from the late ’50s and revisiting it in the ’80s but a perspective from a filmmaker. With “Pepita: Inoue meets Gaudi”, we have a Takehiko Inoue, a popular illustrator and a man who was captivated in the ’90s by Gaudi’s work but revisits Barcelona to be captivated once again by his work in 2011.
And here we are in 2013, and I am amazed about what is included in this book. This is a passionately written book by Takehikou Inoue that does not necessarily focus on illustrations, but includes his illustrations along with photos and information from his experience in Barcelona.
Overall, Takehiko Inoue’s “Pepita: Inoue meets Gaudi” is a fantastic book for anyone who appreciates Inoue’s work but also is passionate for Gaudi’s work as well. Beautiful illustrations, detailed information with photos and just an overall entertaining book of one man’s passion of Antonio Gaudi’s work. Highly recommended!