Gabrielle Bell
Encyclopedia
Gabrielle Bell is an American
alternative cartoonist
known for her surrealist, melancholy semi-autobiographical stories.
, where she took classes in Shakespeare and composition. When Bell was 17 she traveled in Europe, including England, where she met her British relatives. Later moving to San Francisco
, Bell took art classes at the City College of San Francisco
, worked in a series of dead-end retail jobs, and began self-publishing her comics. In 2003, she moved to New York to live with her then boyfriend.
in 2003.
frank and good-humored manner, as she navigates a world of dilapidated rental apartments, low-paying jobs, yoga classes, roommate misadventures, and artistic frustration. These snippets of daily life in the Williamsburg
section of Brooklyn, New York, are comforting in their familiarity; by settling into the rhythm of the artist's daily life, the reader experiences the heft of small victories and simple pleasures. Lucky tells of the anguish of nude modeling; sex-obsessed, adolescent art students; and Bell's own foibles.
Lucky was collected by Drawn and Quarterly
in fall 2006, and launched as a new series (vol. 2), also by Drawn and Quarterly, in 2007.
on a film adaptation of the title story of Cecil and Jordan in New York, in which a young woman turns herself into a chair so as not to be too much of a bother to those around her. The film, titled Interior Design, was co-written by Bell and Gondry and directed by Gondry as part of the film Tôkyô!.
Bell and Gondry also collaborated on Kuruma Tohrimasu, a collection of drawings and photographs made during the production of Interior Design. Conceived of as a thank-you gift for the film's cast and crew, Kuruma Tohrimasu is published as part of Drawn and Quarterly’s Petits Livres series.
. She has also contributed to publications such as Kramers Ergot
(Buenaventura Press), Stereoscomic (Stereoscomic), Bogus Dead (Alternative), Orchid (Sparkplug Comics), The Comics Journal Special Edition 2005 (Fantagraphics), Scheherazade (Soft Skull Press
), and Shout! magazine. Her work has been included three times in the annual Best American Comics anthology series.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative cartoonist
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
known for her surrealist, melancholy semi-autobiographical stories.
Biography
When Bell was two, her American mother divorced her British father and took Gabrielle and her brother back to the United States. Ending up in a relatively isolated rural town in Mendocino County, Bell writes that she "grew up ... spending a lot of time reading, walking in the woods, and making up stories." As a teenager Bell attended a college program for low-income and at-risk students hosted by Humboldt State UniversityHumboldt State University
Humboldt State University is the northernmost campus of the California State University system, located in Arcata within Humboldt County, California, USA. The main campus, nestled at the edge of a coast redwood forest, is situated on Preston hill overlooking Arcata and with commanding views of...
, where she took classes in Shakespeare and composition. When Bell was 17 she traveled in Europe, including England, where she met her British relatives. Later moving to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Bell took art classes at the City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco, or CCSF, is a two-year community college in San Francisco, California. The Ocean Avenue campus, in the Ingleside neighborhood, is the college's primary location...
, worked in a series of dead-end retail jobs, and began self-publishing her comics. In 2003, she moved to New York to live with her then boyfriend.
Books of...
From about 1998 to 2002, Bell annually self-published a 32-page comic, each of whose titles began with "Book of...", including Book of Insomnia, Book of Sleep, Book of Black, Book of Lies, and Book of Ordinary Things. Many of the stories from those comics were collected in When I'm Old and Other Stories, published by Alternative ComicsAlternative Comics (publisher)
Alternative Comics is a U.S. independent graphic novel and comic book publisher which operated from 1993–2007. Located in Gainesville, Florida, it is owned and operated by its founder, attorney Jeff Mason...
in 2003.
Lucky
In 2003, Bell began the self-published semi-autobiographical Lucky series, of which the third won a 2003 Ignatz Award for Most Outstanding Minicomic. Lucky details Bell's day-to-day existence in afrank and good-humored manner, as she navigates a world of dilapidated rental apartments, low-paying jobs, yoga classes, roommate misadventures, and artistic frustration. These snippets of daily life in the Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
section of Brooklyn, New York, are comforting in their familiarity; by settling into the rhythm of the artist's daily life, the reader experiences the heft of small victories and simple pleasures. Lucky tells of the anguish of nude modeling; sex-obsessed, adolescent art students; and Bell's own foibles.
Lucky was collected by Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
in fall 2006, and launched as a new series (vol. 2), also by Drawn and Quarterly, in 2007.
Cecil and Jordan in New York
Bell's newest book is Cecil and Jordan in New York (Drawn & Quarterly), a collection of Bell's short comics work that has been published in various anthologies, including Kramer’s Ergot (Buenaventura Press), Mome (Fantagraphics), and Drawn and Quarterly Showcase Book Four.Michel Gondry
Bell collaborated with director Michel GondryMichel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
on a film adaptation of the title story of Cecil and Jordan in New York, in which a young woman turns herself into a chair so as not to be too much of a bother to those around her. The film, titled Interior Design, was co-written by Bell and Gondry and directed by Gondry as part of the film Tôkyô!.
Bell and Gondry also collaborated on Kuruma Tohrimasu, a collection of drawings and photographs made during the production of Interior Design. Conceived of as a thank-you gift for the film's cast and crew, Kuruma Tohrimasu is published as part of Drawn and Quarterly’s Petits Livres series.
Anthologies
Bell was a regular contributor to Fantagraphics' quarterly anthology MomeMOME (Comics)
Mome was a quarterly full-color comics anthology edited by Eric Reynolds , and published by Fantagraphics Books....
. She has also contributed to publications such as Kramers Ergot
Kramers Ergot
Kramers Ergot is a series of anthology-style books of comic art edited by Sammy Harkham.-Publication history:Kramers Ergot started as a mini-comic self-published by Sammy Harkham under the imprint Avodah Books...
(Buenaventura Press), Stereoscomic (Stereoscomic), Bogus Dead (Alternative), Orchid (Sparkplug Comics), The Comics Journal Special Edition 2005 (Fantagraphics), Scheherazade (Soft Skull Press
Soft Skull Press
Soft Skull Press is an independent publisher founded by Sander Hicks in 1992, and run by Richard Eoin Nash from 2001 to 2009. In 2007, Nash sold Soft Skull to Counterpoint LLC, where it continues to function as a division of the press...
), and Shout! magazine. Her work has been included three times in the annual Best American Comics anthology series.
Sources
- Bell bio at Drawn and Quarterly website.
- Bell mini-site at Alternative Comics website.
- Bio at Notable Biographies.
- Epstein, Daniel Robert. "Not Old Yet — Gabrielle Bell," Newsarama (Sept. 25, 2003).
External links
- Bell's adaptation of Emily Dickinson's "It was not death, for I stood up." "The Poem as Comic Strip #2," Poetry Foundation (PDF).
- Berlatsky, Noah. "The Real Gabrielle Bell," The Hooded Utilitarian (Nov. 5, 2007).
- Clough, Rob. "Deadpan: Gabrielle Bell's Lucky (Dec. 13, 2006).
- Cronin, Brian. "A Month of Art Stars — Gabrielle Bell," Comic Book Resources (Sept. 25, 2008).
- Meginnis, Mike. "'The Hole,' and Other True Fictions," The Webcomics Examiner.
Interviews
- Interview from Mome vol. 2 (July 17, 2005).
- January 2007 Bookslut interview (Jan. 2007).
- SMITH Magazine interview (Jan. 8, 2007).
- Paul Gravett interview (Jan. 19, 2007).
- Daily Cross Hatch interview, part I (July 29, 2008).
- Daily Cross Hatch interview, part II (Aug. 4, 2008).
- Daily Cross Hatch interview, part III (Aug. 12, 2008).
- Daily Cross Hatch interview, part IV (Aug. 19, 2008).