IGOR HOFBAUER

IGOR HOFBAUER

Igor is well known by his Rock gig posters that are omnipresent in the city of Zagreb but also by having drawn for other international events. Igor not only draws posters but is seriously dedicating himself to comics since 2006. Is been lately presenting his work win several events throughout Europe.

Igor has a dramatic style not only in his strong line but especially in his contents which show us his particular bizarre intricate imaginary characterized by the defeated alive industrial landscapes of ex-Yugoslavia and urban underground dimensions that become “surrealized” with the ascendancy of post-decadent sub-life forms – the very unusual characters he creates. A touch of mysterious non-sense makes the resolution of the stories unpredictable and surprisingly trans-dimensional. Igor provokes constant doubts in the narrative, captivating the readers while driving the interpretation to a very far away fictional standard.

Please take a look inside the book through the slide show.

(* the printed edition is shared in cooperation with KikMelone (Croatia) and Turbocomix (France)).

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IGOR HOFBAUER biography written by the author himself

Well, I was born in Zagreb, lived here my whole life, in New Zagreb, to be precise – concrete skyscrapers suburb, I guess you know what kind of place – every big city has it.

In primary school I started making and selling badges and posters of Snoopy and in adolescent time of primary school I made several posters for Saturday dance parties in school. Organizers were allowed 15 to 20 minutes of punk and heavy metal by school directors so I jumped in to make posters for that kind of occasions.

In high school I drew posters and photocopied them for local bands, they were mostly strictly iconographical (punk, heavy metal, hard core), I guess you know what I’m talking about – every big city has that.

After that I went to art academy, study and play drums at the same time, so after a while love for direct action and communication of playing and making posters was stronger than building painter career so after three years I quit academy and from then on I make my living on illustration, doing non profitable

business but doing exactly what I want – drawing comics, posters and books.

I was influenced mostly by music and films. Comics did not influence me for long time, except Friedman brother’s work which I adored. About films, there were three films that influenced me so much that I decided to do comics after seeing them. Fritz Lang’s Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, Georges Franjou’s Les yeux sans visage and Bela Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies. My biggest music influence was band This Heat. I always wanted to draw what they sound like.

Exhibitions:
TNT, Bordeaux, 2003
Alkatraz, Ljubljana, 2003
Bienale Mladih, Athens, 2003
Kocka, Split, 2004
Leon Cavallo, Milan, 2005
Kazamat, Osijek, 2005
GRRR, Festival Pančevo, 2005
Tvornica Jedinstvo, Zagreb, 2007
Strip Route, Harlem, 2007
Izba, Novi Sad, 2008
Crack, Rim, 2008
On the Margins, Portland, 2008
Europa xxl, Lille3000, Lille, 2009

Publications:
Art Of Modern Rock (Paul Gruschkin and Dennis King), 2004
Handwritten – expressive lettering in the digital age (Mirko Ilić and Steven Heller), 2004
5 godina Močvare, 2005
Prison Stories – comic book, 2009 (check out his comic publication at http://chilicomcarne.blogspot.com/2007/08/prison-stories.html).
Firma – Sketchbook, 2010.

Other works:
Illustrations for several newspapers and books.
He worked with the writer Edo Popović; he illustrated the writer’s stories.
He designed more than 100 posters for the club Močvara in Zagreb.
He designed various posters for foreign contractors (mostly for the clubs in Europe).
Last but not least, he also designed more than 20 CD covers for Croatian and foreign bands.

The works of Igor Hofbauer can also be consulted over the web in the pre-selected following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWQZUW79A2U

http://www.turbocomix.eu/blog/index.php?post/2010/11/20/Novo-Doba%2C-12-juin-10

http://www.novodobafestival.net/participants/igor-hofbauer/

http://www.komikaze.hr/author/igor-hofbauer

http://www.gigposters.com/designer/10000_Igor_%20Hofbauer.html

http://chilicomcarne.blogspot.com/2007/08/prison-stories.html

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=104974452877739

http://www.trasportimarittimi.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=13&lang=en

http://media.photobucket.com/image/igor%20hofbauer/hotmaps/octoberredposter2sm.jpg

http://www.lasthours.org.uk/reviews/prison-stories/

http://www.galerieartsite.nl/img/hof/hofbauer.htm