Rice art professor leverages Paris Center for exploration of French graphic novels

Chris Sperandio Rice Global Paris Center
Chris Sperandio Rice Global Paris Center
“I thought, ‘Let’s go study French comics,'" said Chris Sperandio, associate professor of visual and dramatic arts, when he saw Rice Global's call for courses at its Paris Center. (Photo by Brandi Smith)

When Rice University’s Christopher Sperandio saw Rice Global’s call for courses at its Paris Center, he knew exactly what he wanted to teach.

“The French are second maybe only to the Japanese in terms of their love of comics,” said Sperandio, associate professor of visual and dramatic arts. “I thought, ‘Let’s go study French comics.’”

Chris Sperandio Rice Global Paris Center
The course combines reading classic BDs and meeting comics professionals with learning the basics of creating comics, which Rice student Sofia Adams-Giron practiced while in line at Sainte-Chapelle. (Photo by Chris Sperandio)

Graphic novels and comics are billed as “the ninth art” behind mediums such as sculpture, architecture and painting, inspiring the title of Sperandio’s course: “The 9th Art: History & Methods of the French Graphic Novel.”

The three-week class explores French graphic novels called bande dessinée (BD), their history and how they’re made. It combines reading classic BDs and meeting comics professionals with practicing the basics of creating comics.

“We’re bringing in two French graphic novelists, who’ve both produced very important graphic novels,” Sperandio said, explaining that students will read the English-language version of the artists’ work. “It’s important to meet the people who do the thing and make the thing. That’s the focus in this class: let’s look behind the curtain and talk to the wizards directly.”

Having the course based out of the Paris Center offers a central location from which students can work, learn and explore.

“We’re going to every cultural site that has drawings that we can cram into the program,” Sperandio said. “We’re going to spend a day at the Louvre. We’re going to go to the Picasso Museum. The Centre Pompidou has four exhibitions about comics that are opening the day before our classes are over, so we’re getting in there to meet the curators of these exhibitions.”

Chris Sperandio graphic novel
The Paris Center's central location in the Marais gave students the opportunity to explore the city's renowned museums, including the Louvre. (Photo by Chris Sperandio)

Organizing all those visits from across an ocean would typically be a challenge, but Sperandio said the Paris Center staff, specifically Camille Evans and Garry White, have been instrumental in getting the logistics taken care of. For example, Sperandio shared that he was interested in taking his class to visit the oldest working print shop in Paris, which is just around the corner from the Paris Center in the Marais.

“I said, ‘Camille, can you just call them and ask them if we can walk around the corner and put our heads in the door, say hi and touch their presses for a second?’” Sperandio said. “She put it all together. Now we’re going to walk around the corner one day and look at something that is random art history right around the corner. That’s the magic of Paris. It’s all there.”

Learn more about the Rice Global Paris Center here.

 

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