Pablo Bernasconi, 35, has drawn for The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Playboy among other publications. He designed more than 300 covers for the supplement of Argentine newspaper Clarín. He also taught for the University of Buenos Aires, where he studied graphic design, and has written and illustrated five children’s books, translated into eight languages.
‘Retratos’, a book for adults, was published in 2008. His ingenious representations of people and animals, often constructing a body out of inanimate objects, have won various prizes worldwide, from the Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week Award for ‘The Wizard, The Ugly and The Book of Shame’, to the illustration category of the 32 April Prize for Journalism in Brazil.
Do you think it is possible to learn to draw or can the ability only come from natural talent?
Drawing is a means of expression. To draw, therefore, is a way to confront on a sheet of paper the perceptions which someone has of the world. The pencil becomes the most effective tool to translate invisible ideas into the visible. Nobody can teach us this without losing something in the process. What can be taught are techniques, tricks, devices to get closer to what you are trying to achieve.
Do you like the word ‘caricature’ or do you use a different term for what you do?
The word ‘caricature’ is used to describe the exaggeration of features; it is a portrait taken from someone’s exaggerated physiognomy. And I don’t do this, I don’t know how to. I make conceptual drawings. I call them conceptual because with them I do not set out to make an accurate physical representation of the subject, but try to construct and define them as a character from their context, history and perception. My portraits carry a metaphoric charge. My portraits are visual opinions of people. Because of this I often do not give them a head or I might directly replace their face with an object.
It is essential for me to link myself with a subject intellectually first and with their physiognomy later. I see a union with an object, concept, place or symbol, cross the person with that idea and from there comes the portrait.
Do you prefer to illustrate children’s books or work on books and newspapers aimed at adults?
They are very different activities which I appreciate for different reasons, but really I don’t make enough of a distinction between the two to prefer one or the other. My works always have an image concept behind them; I take care to say something interesting and later I make it public to children or adults. Illustrating children’s books lets me be more open to the fantastical universe, more playful, using symbols which an adult might not understand. On the other hand, illustrating for newspapers and adults’ books allows me to use sharper and more caustic metaphors, which I enjoy creating.
Is part of your intention to call attention to current controversy with drawings such as ‘What are you eating?’ and ‘Rivotril’? On the other hand, is it possible to praise someone through such a portrait?
In my work for newspapers and magazines, I learnt to negotiate and create around polemic and delicate subjects. In many cases, it is necessary to find a visual complement to an article which contains aspects difficult to represent in a photograph or with realistic illustrations. In these cases, metaphor is invaluable; it becomes the most direct and forceful visual method there can be. The image here is not going to be decorative; what is necessary is that it encompasses and amplifies the meaning of the text, which speaks for itself.
Of course I can praise someone through a portrait. In my case, lots of the portraits in my book ‘Retratos’, like Roberto Fontanarossa, Edgar Allan Poe, David Lynch, Ella Fitzgerald are people I love and admire. In these cases, I expressed a friendly and affectionate opinion.
Is a strong image as memorable and significant as spoken words?
I think they are two different resources and that each has irreplaceable advantages on its own. Effectiveness doesn’t really depend on the medium but on how it is used. Henry James would not write the same thing about a subject as would Hemingway; just as a portrait by Lucien Freud is not the same as one by Rembrandt or Francis Bacon, even though the same subject is seated in front of them. The image, the word, are resources to give form to something much more resounding: an idea.
Is the role of art to educate as well as entertain?
I hope not! Certainly, visual art has been attributed many meanings and senses, one of which is teaching. But I think that the conscious expression of an opinion through an image must be faithful to the subject and not to the public who demands it. It is the most frank and honest way to construct something. If art were to be charged with teaching, it would lose its brave component of spontaneity and sincerity. This does not imply that anyone cannot learn from an artist’s work as long as it is always considered closely with their mode of expression, the message and the person.
Do you prefer to create something beautiful or meaningful?
I think definitely that something meaningful is beautiful.
Some of your work suggests that in the modern world, truth is hidden under the surface and appearances deceive, such as ‘Desastre del Prestige’, which shows a sinking boat, the submerged half of which has turned into a fish skeleton. What do you think are the modern world’s most dangerous deceptions?
I suppose that the most dangerous is the increasing tendency to act without thinking; to create without thinking about the effect which this will have. Wildly fast consumption, of media, objects, money, advertising, entertainment, is making us all the time more superficial. Everything becomes brief and disposable. There is no time to think. Honest and sincere reflection has to take a place in our lives if we want to consider ourselves intelligent. It is not easy.
What is the most important thing you can teach your students?
I repeat Pablo Picasso’s phrase, with which I close my book ‘Retratos’: “Inspiration exists, but it needs to find you working.”
For more information on Pablo’s work, visit: www.pbernasconi.com.ar