Step into a world where imagination knows no bounds as the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) proudly presents the vibrant art of Raúl Colón this fall.
Born in New York City in 1952, Colón later moved with his parents to Caguas, Puerto Rico, where he studied commercial art. In 1978, he made his way back to the mainland United States when he moved to Miami, Fla. to work at an educational television center. There, he designed everything from puppets to short, animated films. Colón settled with his family in New City, a cozy, quiet suburb of New York, in 1988. Since then, he’s built a celebrated career in commercial and children’s book illustration, with his art appearing in subway station murals, CD covers, major editorials, and museums and galleries worldwide.
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The NCCIL is hosting Colón’s work for the second time in its 26-year history. The artist first visited the museum in 2012 for his exhibition Tall Tales and Huge Hearts. This fall’s revitalized version breathes new life into his work, drawing a path from Colón’s earliest projects to the past 11 years of his career. New additions include art from wordless books like Draw! as well as celebrations of American multiculturalism such as The Little House of Hope and Light for All.
Illustrators don’t often pick and choose their picture book assignments. Rather, they are handed projects by their editors. The artist then faces the challenge of finding inspiration in the text — a picture hiding inside the story, just begging to be illustrated.
“If I don’t see it, I’m not interested,” Colón says.
Sometimes that inspiration comes from very real sources. Colón has illustrated a plethora of picture book biographies, from baseball Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente, to pioneering astrophysicist Henrietta Leavitt, to legendary poet Gabriel Garcia Marquez. For Tomas and the Library Lady, another story based on a real figure, he found inspiration in the simplified forms of Mexican mural artists Diego Rivera and Siqueiros. Colón is also an avid music-lover and a movie buff.
“Art Spiegelman wrote that silent movies triggered the first wordless graphic novels. I’ve always admired Charlie Chaplin’s, Buster Keaton’s, and Harold Lloyd’s work in film,” he says. “You can convey a lot of emotion through simple pictures without saying a word.”
That understanding of pacing and expression came in handy in creating the wordless books Draw! and Imagine!. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, meanwhile, influenced the symmetry of the art in A Child of the Universe. Eagle-eyed film fans might even spot a Kubrick reference hidden somewhere inside.
Created in Color: The Art of R Raúl Colón will be on display at the NCCIL from Oct. 12, 2023 to Feb. 12, 2024. Grown-ups and families alike will have the opportunity to meet and create with Colón during a special weekend this coming fall. Watch the NCCIL website and social media for updates on this exciting artist encounter and be sure to visit nccil.org/current-exhibition to learn more about his exhibit.
Contributed By The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature
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