In honour of Bloomsday, Shakespeare and Company bookstore will be displaying a selection of pieces from Wake in Progress, Stephen Crowe’s ongoing project to illustrate every page of Finnegans Wake, from June 16th to the 30th, 2011. Joyce’s final work is a giddy, disorienting dream that dramatises the internal conflicts of a sleeper's unconscious through a wild, satirical mash-up of history, myth and tall tale-telling. Stephen pays homage to the book's playful miscellany by plundering the history of the visual arts, from Medieval illuminations to cartoon strips.
Stephen’s project has been mentioned by literary web magazines 3:AM and The Millions, design blog Coudal.com, and Belgian news weekly Knack. Language blog Languagehat.com wrote of the project: “I hope that his gorgeous illustrations will serve as an entry point for some readers into that endless (literally), maddening, all-encompassing, and joy(ce)ous text.” Stephen’s work has been called “ambitious” (James Joyce Quarterly), “mad” (Scamp.ie), and “one of the most incredible and beautiful things I have ever seen!” (Behemot.si).
The project can be followed at wakeinprogress.blogspot.com. For more information, contact the artist at info@invisibledot.net, or the venue at:
Shakespeare and Company,
37 rue de la Bûcherie,
Paris 75005
Tel : 00 33 (0) 1 43 25 40 93
news@shakespeareandcompany.com
