Week 3 - 4, About Sara Fanelli

Sara Fanelli 

Sara Fanelli was born 20th July 1969, in Florence, Italy, during the first mood landing. She did a Diploma di Maturita at Licco Classico Michelangelo in Florence, then came to London to attend a foundation course, followed by a BA (Hons) Graphic Design course at Camberwell College of Art -specialising in illustration in the final year of the course. She followed this all up by a 2-year MA in Illustration at the Royal College of Art. Between the foundation and the BA she also attended a one-year Architecture Degree course at the University of Florence. 

Her work Derives from Dadaists, Futurists, Cubists and Paul Klee alongside photography and film, Bauhaus, Russian Constructivist, Surrealism, 1960s art and popular art and primitive art.

These inspirations are clear indicators of the influence in her work.

Figure 1 - Dadaism - Johannes Baader German, 1875–1955

Der Verfasser des Buches "Vierzehn Briefe Christi" in seinem Heim

(The Author of the Book "Fourteen Letters of Christ" in His Home), c. 1920

photomontage and collage on book page with ink inscription.

Figure 2 - Dadaism - Hannah Hoch German, 1889 - 1978
Das schone Madchen (The Beautiful Girl), 1919-1920 photomontage and collage

Figure 3 - Collage - Kurt Schwitters German, 1887 - 1948
Bild mit Raumgewachsen 

Figure 4 - Collage - Kurt Schwitters French, 1887 - 1946
Die heilige Sattermappe (The Holy Saddlers' Portfolio), 1922 collage on board folder.

Figure 5 - Surrealism - Joan Miro 
A Star Caresses the Breast of a Negress (Painting Poem) 1938

Figure 6 - Surrealism - Paul Nash 
A Landscape from a Dream 1936-8 

Steven Heller: 'Would you say you lean towards, Surrealism in your work? Are you trying to hide something? Or is it the way your mind processes visual information?'

Sara Fanelli: 'To me the world is surreal and I find its obscurities and surprises make it worth coping with all the rest. There is also an element of playfulness in the surreal side of things that is equally fundamental, for me, in order to live.'

- Hellerbooks - An interview with Sara Fanelli. 

Figure 7 - Cubism - Pablo Picasso 
Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper 1913

She's worked for a diverse range of clients internationally, dividing her time between her books and self-generated projects and commercial illustrations. Her clients include 'The New Yorker', Penguin publications, Faber and Faber, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the V & A museum also writing and illustrating many books that have no been published in many languages. 

Figure 8 - Tate Modern - Gallery entrance and Timeline

Fanelli’s earliest publication was ‘My Map book’ in 1995, which consists of a series of maps that make up everyday situations and visionaries the life and imagination of a young girl.

Figure 9 - 'Map of the Day' My Map Book

Image References

- Figure 1 - 2 - Art, N.G. of and Washington (2008b) NGA-DADA-Art-photomontage.  

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- Figure 3 - 4 - Art, N.G. of and Washington (2008a) NGA-DADA-Art-collage.  

- Figure 5 - 6 - DAGP (1938) Surrealism. 

- Figure 7 - Picasso, S. and 2002, D. (2002) Cubism.

- Figure 8 - Fanelli, S. (no date) Portfolio.  

 

- Figure 9 - My Map book

Bibliography 

- ADAGP (1938) Surrealism. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online--resources/glossary/s/surrealism#key (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- Art, N.G. of and Washington (2008a) NGA-DADA-Art-collage. Available at: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/dada/artwork/collage.shtm (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- Art, N.G. of and Washington (2008b) NGA-DADA-Art-photomontage. Available at: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/dada/artwork/photomontage.shtm#null (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- Dillon, B. (2014) Hannah Höch: Art’s original punk. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jan/09/hannah-hoch-art-punk-whitechapel (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- Fanelli, S. (no date) Portfolio. Available at: http://www.sarafanelli.com/docs/portfolio/04c.html (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- Fanelli, S. (no date) Sara Fanelli. Available at: http://www.sarafanelli.com/docs/about.html (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- Heller, S. (2007) GRAPHIC GESTURES AN INTERVIEW WITH SARA FANELLI. Available at: http://www.hellerbooks.com/pdfs/varoom_03.pdf (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- My Map book (no date) Available at: http://www.sarafanelli.com/docs/books/08mymap/03.html (Accessed: 12 November 2016).

- Picasso, S. and 2002, D. (2002) Cubism. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/cubism#introduction (Accessed: 12 November 2016).