Gia Alfonso Pacinotti, better known by the pseudonym of Gipi, is an Italian

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, filmmaker, and author.

Biography

Born in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

in 1963, he began his career illustrating for the publishing and advertising industries.Comic creator: Gipi (Gianni Pacinotti)
/ref> He began illustrating stories and comics in 1992, and his work appeared in '' Cuore'', ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

'', '' Il Clandestino'', '' Boxer'', ''

Il Manifesto (; English: "the manifesto") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Rome, Italy. While calling itself " communist" and broadly left-wing, it is not connected to any political party A political party is an organization that coordin ...

'' and '' Lo Straniero''. His work also appears in ''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

''.First Second – Creators – Gipi
His

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

''Appunti per una storia di guerra'' (''Notes for a War Story''), published by Coconino Press, appeared in France and was published in the United States by

First Second Books First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint (trade name), imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck, Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual e ...

. It won the 2005 Goscinny Prize for Best Script and was proclaimed Best Book at

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

in 2006. ''Notes for a War Story'' follows three young men in a war-torn country –intended to be any number of European countries. "In the Italian version of the book", Gipi has remarked, "the name of the villages are Italian names, in the French version, French names. I didn't want the reader to think, ‘This war happens elsewhere, far from me.’ My intention was to make people think about the possibilities of a war suddenly arriving in their own home". Gipi has created ''Gli innocenti'' (''The Innocents'') for the Ignatz Series and in 2006 this work earned him an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

nomination and a Max & Moritz Prize. ''The Innocents'' is about a reformed thug who takes his young nephew down to the seaside, where they visit an old friend who has just been released out of prison for a crime he did not commit.Fantagraphics Books – Gipi
/ref>

Other work

In 2000, he founded Santa Maria Video. Santa Maria is a studio through which he creates video and animation shorts. His debut as a film director, '' The Last Earthling'', premiered at the

68th Venice International Film Festival The 68th annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August and 10 September 2011, at Venice Lido in Italy. American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actre ...

. In 2015, he successfully crowdfunded and launched ''Bruti'', a card game about melee combats between warriors and enchanters set in a dark fantasy with a medieval feel. Gipi designed the game and illustrated each card. The deluxe version of the rulebook includes a long introductory comic.

Works

Graphic novels

*''Esterno notte'' (in Italian). Bologna: Coconino Press. 2003 * *''S'' (in Italian)''.'' Bologna: Coconino Press. 2006 * * *''Momenti straordinari con applausi finti'' (in Italian). Bologna: Coconino Press. 2019. * *

Anthologies

* * *''Diario di fiume e altre storie'' (in Italian). Bologna: Coconino Press. 2009 *''Verticali'' (in Italian). Bologna: Coconino Press. 2009 *''Baci dalla provincia'' (in Italian). Bologna: Coconino Press. 2011

Filmography

References

External links

Gipi’s websiteWords Without Borders: “Taken from Life: An Interview with Gipi”
{{Authority control Italian comics writers Italian comics artists People from Pisa 1963 births Living people Inkpot Award winners Pseudonymous artists