Autores: Ana Juan
Idioma: Inglês
Capa dura
Narrative for the eyes
With no words, Circus is true to the idea that images are narrative for the eyes – eyes of all ages.
This quite gloomy story told in black charcoal with occasional splashes of colours – initially relegated to minor detail – develops around a circus. Its characters come to life before the eyes of two little girls and, therefore, of the reader, who is dragged into a bizarre adventure in black and white.
While cheerfully playing ball in an place free of connotations but far from reassuring, the twins are lured by a tree populated by spiders which, table after table, gradually takes on anthropomorphic features becoming one of the typical “tempting spirits” that often populate Ana Juan’s illustrations (e.g. in L’isola). Among magicians, jugglers and musicians, we follow a dance of quirky characters who – in a continuous movement to the right – invite us to turn the page with increasing frenzy, until we enter the circus and we see the show.
But nature isn’t always good in Ana Juan’s illustrations, who surprises us with an unexpected ending, emphasized by the bold use of red and orange.