Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman by Austin Kleon, on Flickr

His parents wanted him to become a dentist.

Instead,

He graduated from Manhattan’s High School of Art and Design, then attended Harpur College to major in art and philosophy.

Arthur “Art” Spiegelman (born 2/15/1948) is a New York cartoonist whose graphic novel, Maus, won a Pulitzer Prize.  He has done quite a lot throughout the years:

• Written and published various works
• Contributing member of the undergound comix movement
• Co-editor of various magazines and books
• Designed Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages cards for Topps Bubblegum Company
• Taught comics aesthetics and history at New York’s School of Visual Arts
• Done cover art and short works for The New Yorker magazine

His most well-known work is his memoir, Maus: a Survivor’s Tale, a graphic novel which recounts his father’s experience as a Polish Jew surviving the Holocaust.  What makes Maus interesting is it’s depiction of the characters as anthropomorphised animals.  For example, Art Spiegelman drew upon the negative associations of Jews with vermin and depicts them as mice.

In February, McSweeney’s published a gritty, “warts-and-all” collection of books of Spiegelman’s work.  They’re reproductions of his private sketchbooks.  The collection has been in stores since the first of March.  It’s called Be a Nose!

I found out about it through this promo video which I watched over and over again.

For more information on Art Spiegelman, as well as, links to interviews and resources, check out the profile on Read Yourself RAW.