Un Sedicesimo 22

Un Sedicesimo 22 pays tribute to the comic strip. Without text or bubbles, the story is created here by the rhythm of the panels on the page, and by their alternating figures and colours. Gianpaolo Pagni creates patterns, people and geometric shapes using specially designed stamps of different shapes and sizes, coated in ink and used like a pencil or paintbrush to make drawings. Graphics combine with overlapping figures and mass production to create an abstract cartoon that uses geometric figures and human silhouettes in a personal interpretation of wordless narrative.

Gianpaolo Pagni (Turin, 1969) is an artist and an illustrator, he lives and works in Paris. His work is born from and is constantly developed around graphic experimentation, seriality and recycling by using different media such as painting, découpage, stamp drawing, engraving, lithography and artist’s books. Image books without texts are one of the most important aspects of his work, regardless they are for children or not. He is author of posters for the cultural field and collaborates with many newspapers and publishers in France, Italy, United Kingdom and United States. He regularly exhibits his works in France and abroad.