By Kim Frost

The universe of toonpool artist Hermé is a sun-splashed playland of the gods floating high above the sublunary world we know. These curvaceous aristocrats, with their idealized faces and supple bodies, are like classical statues that have been awakened. Transparent and light as air, they frolic in a place where it’s okay to go naked and drink as much wine as you want. Gods just wanna have fun!

Hermé is like a champion golfer who wins every game with the fewest possible strokes. His bold characters arise from a sinuous line that looks as if it had been drawn in one sweeping gesture. The rich colors – gold, red, white, shades of blue – evoke regality and theatricality, humor and splendor, ecstasy and ornament.

A robust figure who looks like Icarus is the subject of Pacwine. In the myth, Icarus was incinerated for trying to make a trip to the sun with a pair of DIY wings. Here, though, the strapping god looks great, and his gigantic wings aren’t even singed. Did he survive the solar trip, or change his itinerary? With the grapes he holds, he could also be Dionysus, the god of wine and madness. Or is he really Hermé himself – Hermes, the winged messenger? Hermes is one of the busiest gods in the pantheon, in charge of agriculture, hospitality, friendship and sex, games and good luck. I love the white calligraphic lines that delineate his dark body, the curlicues of his joints, and the rosebud whirl inside the shoulder. And here’s a surprise: Pac-Man bouncing into the frame, eager to engulf a blood-red stream of wine that tilts out of the pagan altar (that’s a beautifully drawn phallic symbol of course). The layers of enclosure create security – the wings that shelter the god and his sun-warmed grapes, the dark floral scrolls framing the altar and Pac-Man, and the sun’s glow embracing the entire scene. In this conception Hermes is primarily a giver of life, the conduit of the earth’s abundance. He’s like the goat goddess who found the infant Zeus, the future king of the gods, and fed him with her milk.

The Mirror

In The Mirror, Hermé depicts a seated woman who appears to be gazing at herself in a hand-held mirror. The main surprise is that she has no head – the wavy line down her back suggests a swathe of long hair, but it turns into the inverted profile of a man. This vain woman seems to be losing herself, paradoxically, in her obsession with her own beauty. Is this a comment on the emptiness of narcissism? Or does vanity have utility after all? Can it create a negative space in a woman’s psyche and in her body, a point of vulnerability, permitting the man to enter? Another possibility is that the poor girl has literally lost her head over some guy. Everyone knows the feeling of being so much in love that everything looks upside down, including your own face in the mirror. This drawing also reminds me of Hermé’s charming self-portrait [see below] in which the artist uses the power of the drawn line to create his own body on the page. In this view we can take the seated figure in The Mirror to be the artist himself, who raises a mirror to life, and always reveals himself in his own creation.

Self-Portrait

Here is my interview with Hermé.

Where were you born, and where did you study?

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I was inspired by this beauty and light. I have never studied drawing, but I always liked to draw (I have drawings I made at three years of age) and I started drawing professionally at age sixteen.

Who are your main influences?

I have always been greatly influenced by ancient Greek art. I have a fascination with the drawings on Greek vases. I have also been influenced by Picasso, Steinberg, and Roberto Burle Marx, among many others, and by Art Nouveau.

What do you use in your work?

I draw with all kinds of stuff, but I’m currently using a Wacom tablet (Cintiq 21 UX), and the Illustrator programs for Mac. I have a large number of printers for all purposes.

When did you become fascinated with wine?

I’m not exactly “fascinated” with wines. There was a time when I produced many drawings on this subject. I am now illustrating the works of Brazilian author Jorge Amado, and depicting women who are present in the work of this author.

What do you do when you’re not drawing?

I like to be very close to my family – children, wife, my dog, and some cats we had in our lives for five months.

-end-

People are strange – and strangers are people, too!

If there is one religion I belong to, it might be Christianity. I got baptized and attended religion class in school – that’s how it went. I celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. I celebrate Christmas at home in Berlin, not far away from the place where Hayati Boyacıoğlu celebrates Christmas with his family, few kilometers between us.
Hayati made this strange cartoon, and maybe Hayati wouldn’t celebrate Christmas at all, because if he belongs to one religion, than it’s Islam. But Hayati has a German wife and two children who grew up in this great city where you are always surrounded by people from countless countries and religions.

Nevertheless I stumble, looking at his cartoon »Meeting«: why is this kid kissing the hand of Santa Claus? I’ve been in contact with Muslims for 20 years, but I do not recognize this gesture. Hayati explains: »the little boy gives the old, wise man a traditional, respectful kiss on the hand, a common greeting in the orient for thousands of years.« The Muslim users laugh, most of the Christian users don’t. Hayati: »Of course, the ones who know this custom with the hand kiss from Islamic celebrations laugh about this cartoon and give good comments, because they understand the “gag” at once. Those who do not know this gesture are puzzled. But in return, I do not understand every gag without background information, too. And I have to live with it.«

It’s not easy for many »binational« families with the culture clash: you have to agree on issues and come to compromises to settle in the new country, though you don’t want to forget where you came from. Especially Christmas can be troubling, when the children want to have presents and celebrate like the other kids in school, when they ask what Christmas really means. »Well, the Christian children get presents«, Hayati says, »but the children who were born here and speak German better than their parent’s language are not visited by Santa Claus or at least not regularly. But that’s how kids are, they are keen on presents, too.«

I really like the cartoon now, like good news for the various cultures of our planet. After all, the Santa Claus symbol derived from Saint Nicholas who originated from Myra – an ancient town beneath today’s Antalya, Turkey, as user Hüseyin Alparslan commented.

In the meantime Hayati’s 11-year old son is making some thoughts about his presents. He prepared a modest wishlist. But the handing out of presents won’t be the last action on Christmas, explains Hayati: »I enjoy Christmas solemnly with my family at the Christmas tree. But we won’t exaggerate with the presents… We won’t disregard the real meaning of Christmas and attend Christmas Eve service (in church). Otherwise it would be like winter sales, just consumption…«

And how do you celebrate Christmas, dear Christian reader?

Hayati Boyacioglu lives and works in Berlin/Germany. He was born 5 May 1960 in Istanbul, Turkey. His started his Career as a caricaturist in his early high school years. During his student Years in Berlin/Germany (German and journalism) he sophisticated his caricatures based on monitoring daily situations, focused on the themes racism, immigration, and encounter.

visit Hayati’s profile page on toonpool.com

Wenn es eine Religion gibt, der ich angehöre, ist es wohl das Christentum. Ich wurde getauft und ging in der Schule in den Religionsunterricht – so war das nunmal. Ich feiere Weihnachten, das eigentlich das Fest zur Geburt Jesu Christi ist. Ich feiere Weihnachten zuhause in Berlin, unweit von dem Ort, wo Hayati Boyacıoğlu Weihnachten mit seiner Familie feiert, nur ein paar Kilometer entfernt.
Hayati hat diesen seltsamen Cartoon gemacht, und eigentlich würde Hayati vielleicht gar nicht Weihnachten feiern, denn wenn er einer Religion angehört, dann dem Islam. Aber Hayati hat eine deutsche Frau und zwei Kinder, die beide in Berlin aufgewachsen sind, in dieser großartigen Stadt, in der man ständig von Menschen aus aller Herren Länder und Religionen umgeben ist.

Trotzdem stutze ich bei seinem Cartoon “Begegnung”: warum küßt das Kind die Hand des Weihnachtsmanns? Ich bin seit über 20 Jahren mit Muslimen in Kontakt, aber ich erkenne diese Geste nicht. Hayati erklärt: »der kleine Junge gibt dem alten weisen Mann einen traditionellen, respektvollen Handkuss, was so im Orient seit tausenden Jahren üblich ist.« Die muslimen User lachen, die meisten christlichen User nicht. Hayati: »Natürlich sind die, die diese Sitte mit dem Handkuss von islamischen Festen, aber auch sonst kennen, besonders angetan und kommentieren sehr gut, weil sie den Witz, den “Gag” sofort verstehen. Diejenigen, die mit dem Handkuss nichts anfangen oder die Geste als solche nicht erkennen, sind etwas befremdlich. Aber auch ich verstehe nicht immer jeden Gag ohne Hintergrundinformation. Und ich muss damit leben.«

Es ist nicht einfach für viele »binationale« Familien mit dem Culture Clash: man muß sich einigen und Kompromisse machen, um in dem neuen Land »anzukommen«, und doch will man nicht vergessen, wo man herkommt. An Weihnachten spitzt es sich besonders zu, wenn die Kinder genauso wie die anderen Geschenke haben und feiern wollen und sich fragen, was Weihnachten eigentlich ist. »Nun, die christlichen Kinder bekommen Geschenke«, sagt Hayati, »aber die Kinder, die zwar auch hier geboren sind und besser deutsch können als die Sprache ihrer Eltern, bekommen keinen Besuch vom Weihnachtsmann oder sehr selten. Aber so, wie die Kinder eben sind, auch sie sind eigentlich scharf auf Geschenke.«

Inzwischen finde ich den Cartoon richtig gut, wie eine frohe Botschaft für die vielen Kulturen dieser Erde. Überhaupt ist der Weihnachtsmann an den Sankt Nikolaus angelehnt, und der stammte aus Myra – einer antiken Stadt in der Nähe des heutigen Antalya, Türkei, wie User Hüseyin Alparslan bemerkt.

Derweil macht sich Hayatis elfjähriger Sohn schonmal Gedanken, was er zu Weihnachten haben möchte. Eine bescheidene Wunschliste ist bereits fertig. Aber beim Schenken wird es nicht bleiben, erzählt Hayati: »Ich verbringe die Weihnachtstage ganz besinnlich mit der Familie vor dem Weihnachtsbaum. Ich achte allerdings akribisch darauf, dass wir mit “Schenkerei” nicht so sehr übertreiben… Wir werden den tieferen Sinn vom Weihnachten nicht aus dem Auge verlieren und auch zum Weihnachtsgottesdienst gehen. Sonst wäre das Ganze wie Winterschlussverkauf, also nur Konsum…«

Und wie feiern Sie das Weihnachtsfest, lieber christlicher Leser?

Last week, as every week, there were some new mysterious cartoons. I think this one by Portos is a good example for the I-don’t-understand-a-word category. The I-could-understand-it-if-I-knew-anything-about-your-culture category is being adequately represented by new member Mohamed Alafia, whom I will introduce below. Then, there are some cartoons that I think I should be understanding but I don’t: one in German, one in English, and two without any dialogue. There’s one that uses clear symbolism but makes your brain hurt if you try to think about it. And there are at least two that havecrossed the line to surrealism (one, two)

Introducing…

Mohamed Alafia’s cartoons are sporadically mysterious. Sometimes this is due to my ignorance of Moroccan topics (here & here) and a little research does help. At other times it’s due to my ignorance of Moroccan topics but even Wikipedia is clueless. Who is that Ponky guy? One cartoon, however, remains mysterious even though the captions are pretty clear.  Anyway, Alafia’s style is interesting to look at – especially when he does these scribbly outlines in what might be ink, adds another layer of paler and broader ink scribbles and then puts in blotches of color on his computer (e.g. here). I’ve never quite seen anything like this before.

German artist Schwoe has uploaded only four cartoons so far (1, 2, 3, 4). And, since I am German too I understand all of them. The reason I am mentioning them here is because they are funny, well-drawn, and make my neck hurt in a peculiar way because of the perspective Schwoe employs. Seriously. It’s like looking at German newscaster Klaus Kleber [I found this cartoon when looking for the photo… toonpool.com has once again made page one of the search results. yay!]

Cartoons of Interest

I think my favorite cartoon this week is “Daylight Robbery” by Russian artist Sergej Tunin. I love those old timey pilots in their leather caps and goggles and it’s fun to imagine the sound of the plane.

Paul Hellmich

An interesting thing happens when artists link the Berlin wall to the Israeli West Bank barrier, as in this piece by Paolo Lombardi referencing “Test the Best” on Berlin’s East Side Gallery. The strong appeal of a wall as a symbol of injustice apparently overrides all difficulties that arise when you compare the historical background of the two walls. On the other hand, comparing them anyway might lead to interesting new insights as happened accidentally in the comments to this 2008 piece by Ben Heine.

Introducing…

Continuing with the West Bank theme, I would like to introduce new artist Ramzy Taweel, who actually lives in Palestine. He drew these two cartoons about his thoughts on the issue (note the one-legged background guy on the beach). Apart from fitting this week’s topic, Ramzy totally qualifies for this column by his art – a clear message, a clean, professional style and effective use of colors. My favorite among his non-political cartoons is about Henson-folk and flu. Apparently, I missed out on the passing of Big Bird some time last year.

I further would like to introduce Mallorca-based German artist Nicki Wambolt. I don’t want to write about great and innovative use of colors again (I feel that I always do), but then again, Wambolt’s use of color is great and innovative in a way different from the other artists’ individual great and innovative ways. So, yeah. Be sure to check out the dog-eared audience, the dangers of play-doh, the plate of chilies and the glass-house guy.

Cartoons of Interest

This week’s favorite is plain and simple. “Naufrago” (“Shipwrecked”) by Karlo from Chile. Things like these probably happen all the time.

Paul Hellmich

Introducing…

I would like to introduce new toonpool.com member Sinann . I really like the way Sinann enhances the black and white contrast in his cartoons by adding grey areas. Take, for example, this cartoon referring to last week’s balloon boy hoax. A great drawing – especially that couple in the background. I also liked the one on the feathered dinosaur fossil. When checking wikipedia for some smart statement about palaeontology to throw in or at least for  some information about recent feathered dinosaur finds, I stumbled upon this article. It’s… detailed… and Im not going to read all of it. But maybe someone else wants to. And then post a smart statement.

Cartoons of Interest

My favourite cartoon this week is another simple gag cartoon. Writing this thing really tells me something about my kind of humor. Oh, well. In any case, Cartoonkiss got everything right in “Zahnarzt” (“Dentist”). I admire how he directs the readers through the single panel cartoon: First, there’s only the caption (it translates to “Next, please!”).. and then your eyes wander down the page… Also a great use of a highly underestimated color: glow-in-the-dark greenish.

Paul Hellmich