Drawings that Move: The Art of Joanna Quinn Gallery Two National Media Museum, Bradford 16 October 2009 – 21 February 2010
Free entry to exhibitions Information: 0870 70 10 200 www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
From 16 October, 2009, to 21 February, 2010, a free-to-enter exhibition at the National Media Museum in Bradford is celebrating the career of one of Britain’s foremost independent animators, whose films and commercial work have won her renown and acclaim around the world.
Over the past 25 years Joanna Quinn’s love for drawing and movement has been the driving force behind a beautifully distinctive body of animation – all hand drawn on paper and cels. It includes her signature character; Welsh housewife, Beryl; an Oscar-nominated and BAFTA and Emmy-winning film based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; and the Charmin Bears, whose adverts for toilet paper are recognised all over the globe.
The first-ever gallery retrospective of Joanna’s work is being created at the National Media Museum in Bradford. Audiences will be taken on a journey starting with the artist’s early drawings and animations to some of her very latest, gaining an insight into the creative and business processes involved in running a successful animation studio along the way.
Artwork by some of her inspirations also features – the 18th Century British political caricaturist James Gillray; the great Spanish painter Goya; French Impressionists Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas, alongside contemporary cartoonists Steve Bell and Posy Simmonds.
As well as her evidently hand-drawn style, Joanna’s animation is characterised by acute social observation, the investigation of British history and culture, and broad humour, much of it scripted by her producer/writer partner, Les Mills.
Many of Joanna’s projects offer a strong female perspective; none more so than the Beryl series. The character first appeared in Joanna’s debut film Girls Night Out (1987) which won three awards at Annecy, the animation world’s biggest festival.
Since then Beryl has appeared in two further films: Body Beautiful (1990) and Dreams and Desires – Family Ties (2006), which won 42 international awards. A fourth, as yet untitled, adventure is currently in production.
Other films from Joanna include Elles (1992) featuring off-duty prostitutes inspired by the artwork of Toulouse-Lautrec, Britannia (1993), a biting satire about Britain’s imperial history, and the BAFTA and Emmy-winning Wife of Bath, part of the compendium film, Canterbury Tales (1998). This was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short, as was Famous Fred (1996), her film for children based on Posy Simmonds’ picture book.
Exhibition curator Michael Harvey, who counts Dreams and Desires among his favourite animated films and who also set up the Museum’s Animation Gallery in 1999, said: “Joanna’s career, like that of her contemporaries such as Nick Park, was initially fostered though commissions from the BBC, S4C and Channel 4 which in the 1980s and ‘90s pushed British animators to the forefront of a whole new genre of animation for adults.It is testament to her talent that she has continued to build on this success, and we are delighted to be the first-ever venue to display a comprehensive exhibition of her work. Joanna has a very special quality and a distinctive approach to drawing for animation.”
Complementing the exhibition will be an in-depth website packed with additional information, video clips and features, including a video diary of Joanna and Les at work.
Joanna will be supporting other events at the Museum. She will act as a judge and introduce a selection of her favourite films at this year’s Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) 11-14 November. On 15 October she will be a guest panellist at Mediafest, the Museum’s annual industry conference which this year focuses on women in the media. Joanna will also be hosting two family workshops as part of the ‘Big Draw’ season of learning activities at the Museum.
For more information, to request interviews or images please contact:
Phil Oates, Press Officer, National Media Museum 01274 203317 Phil.Oates@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk or
Sophie Choudry, Press and Marketing Assistant, National Media Museum 01274 203334 Sophie.Choudry@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
Phil Oates mailto:Phil.Oates@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk 2009-10-04
