The Image in Motion – Guy Delisle

Guy Delisle will first offer a brief overview of his career as a leading figure in the analysis of everyday life and journalistic comics, before focusing on a presentation about the moving image. Drawing on his personal research into the figure of Eadweard Muybridge, he will analyze the paradigm shift in visual representation brought about by the first capture of motion. He will explore how this technical advancement not only transformed photography but also opened up new narrative possibilities in art and comics.

Guy Delisle (Quebec, Canada, 1966) is a cartoonist and comic book author known for his autobiographical and documentary-style comics. After studying fine arts, Guy Delisle turned to animation and worked in various studios around the world, first in Montreal, then in Europe (Germany, France) and Asia (China, Vietnam, North Korea). It was precisely during these periods that he developed some of his most renowned works, in which he combines travelogue, political commentary, and everyday humor.

Books such as Shenzhen, Pyongyang, Crónicas birmanas, and Crónicas de Jerusalén (Best Album at the Angoulême Festival in 2012) showcase his curious and critical perspective on cultural contexts and political regimes vastly different from his own. With a simple, clean, and expressive drawing style, Delisle manages to convey complex situations through seemingly everyday scenes, where humor and irony soften, without shallowing them, topics such as censorship, bureaucracy, or cultural shock. His work has contributed to consolidating comics as a solid expression of journalism and personal testimony. His numerous works have been translated into several languages. In Spain we have met and enjoyed her thanks to the devoted work of the Astiberri editorial.