The Nauti-poulpe arrives in Brussels! The giant bronze sculpture, half-machine half-cephalopod, which will unfurl its tentacles on Place Poelaert, in front of the Palais de Justice, is the brainchild of designer François Schuiten and sculptor Pierre Matter, commissioned by the city of Amiens to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Jules Verne’s death.
In conjunction with this inauguration, Galerie Champaka is delighted to host an exhibition of originals from the album Le retour du Capitaine Némode by François Schuiten and Benoit Peeters (Ed. Casterman). The emblematic duo, made up of the visionary cartoonist and polymorphous artist of contemporary Belgian comics, and the writer and critic, resurrect Captain Nemo and place the hero of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea or Mysterious Island at the helm of the Nauti-poulpe, a hybrid submersible that sails in the geographical footsteps of their Obscure Cities universe. In this beautiful hybrid book, alternating between comics and illustrated stories, and featuring impressive black-and-white images, François Schuiten’s goldsmith’s work echoes the great 19th-century engravers in the tradition of Gustave Doré, or the talented illustrators such as Edouard Riou, Alphonse de Neuville, Jules Férat and Léon Benett, who were the visual signature of the prestigious J. Hetzel publishing house. Hetzel, inseparable from the work of Jules Verne.
A unique opportunity to acquire the originals, all the plates and covers of The Return of Captain Nemo will be presented at Galerie Champaka, in a large-scale event that also includes multiples of the Nauti-poulpe in sculpture or digigraphy, as well as previously unpublished charcoal illustrations offered in partnership with Galerie 9ème Art in Paris.
An event that’s already shaping up to be the major cultural event of the year.
