Lila Prap

Ilustracije Lile Prap

Še ena poenostavljena delitev: ilustracije so lahko prikupne ali pa ne. Zgodba se
od nekdaj ponavlja tudi v slovenski likovni umetnosti: začetki so sicer nevtralni,
realistični, ko pridemo do Vesnanov, pa se srečujemo tudi s tovrstno dvojnostjo,
morda najbolj očitno v primeru Maksima Gasparija in Gvida Birolla. Zaradi očit-
nih skupnih potez je razlika med obema še toliko bolj očitna: Gaspari (v glavnem)
želi ugajati in zato so njegova dela - od drobnih vinjet do tabelnih slik - prikupna;
Birolla brska globlje in zato njegova dela velikokrat učinkujejo grozeče.

Osnovna delitev je še toliko bolj očitna v primeru otroških ilustracij, med kateri-
mi danes prevladujejo prikupne, pa čeprav ni bilo vedno tako. Še iz otroških let se
spominjam ilustracij, ki jih je Marij Pregelj ustvaril za Perraultove Francoske
pravljice (1957): čeprav se je pri tem naslonil na tradicijo srednjeveških iluminiranih
rokopisov (ki so bili v glavnem tudi prikupni, pa čeprav ne iz natanko istih razlo-
gov), je ustvaril presunljivo varianto svojega lastnega likovnega sveta.

''Pregljevske'' ilustracije bi si danes v otrokom namenjeni knjigi težko predstav-
ljali. Razlog je gotovo v zadnji polovici stoletja bistveno spremenjeno razumevanje
otrok in otroštva, seveda pa ugotavljanje značilnosti te spremembe in razlogov
zanjo presega meje tega kataloga; zadovoljiti se je treba z ugotovitvijo ene od
številnih posledic, tiste, ki nas tu edina zanima - da je v zadnjih desetletjih v
slovenski, otrokom namenjeni literaturi, prikupna ilustracija docela prevladala.

Tako pridemo do Lile Prap in njenih del. Ob njih je treba opozoriti, da ne gre samo
za ilustracije, ampak tudi za tekste. Tudi ti so prikupni, zaznamovani z značilnim
rahlim humorjem, zanimivo pa je, da so teme pogosto arhetipske. V eni od knjig iz
serije Zakaj se npr. srečamo z motivom krokodiljih solz, ki v evropski literaturi
sega vse do Physiologa, teksta, ki ga je (domnevno v 2. stoletju našega štetja) neznan
avtor napisal v Aleksandriji, najbolje pa ga poznamo iz neštetih srednjeveških
ponovitev in variant - le da odgovor tokrat ni običajno moralističen, ampak
lahkoten.

Takšne povezave so zanimive tudi z likovnega stališča, saj lahko slog ilustracij - s
pomočjo sistemizacije Izidorja Cankarja - mirno označimo kot ''ploskovit'', ki mu je
(s Cankarjevega stališča) ustrezal predvsem velik del srednjeveške umetnosti.
Dejansko lahko Cankarjeve opredelitve marsikdaj kar prepišemo: kar se ''obliko-
vanja telesnosti'' tiče, liki Lile Prap niso nič drugega "nego projekcija teles v
ploskev, izvršena s pomočjo linij"; ko opazujemo njeno ''oblikovanje prostora'',
lahko ugotovimo, da praviloma ni "porabila niti najneznatnejšega sredstva, da nam
vzbudi iluzijo prostorne globine"; in končno je njena kompozicija ''vezana'', saj
"obstoji iz ploskovne adicije … ter teži k absolutni simetriji figur". Zatakne se šele
pri vsebinski opredelitvi, niti ne zato, ker umetnosti Lile Prap ne bi mogli označiti
kot ''idealistične'', ampak zato, ker je Izidor Cankar s takšno označbo mislil na
nekaj čisto drugega.

Označbo pa lahko uporabimo na način, ki Cankarju sicer ne bi bil pogodu, in
najprej ugotovimo, da je bil ''idealističen'' dobršen del moderne umetnosti in da v
ta krog sodijo tudi dela Lile Prap. Poleg tega je mogoče reči, da njene in druge
sorodne ilustracije otroke obravnavajo kot idealna mala bitja in tako utrjujejo
njihovo zaželeno samopodobo in - nič manj pomembno - podobo, ki si jo o njih želijo
imeti odrasli: na tej točki torej znova pridemo do spremenjenega razumevanja
otrok in otroštva. Ali pa bi bilo bolj smiselno govoriti o omejevanju nekdanjega
koncepta? ''Pregljevski'' odgovor je trenutno morda pozabljen, še vedno pa je vel-
javen. Tudi zato ostajajo vprašanja odprta.

Lev Menaše

Ilustracija za knjigo Male živali - Uš Agata. Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1999

Biografija

Lilijana Praprotnik Zupančič - Lila Prap se je rodila leta 1955 v Celju. Po gimnaziji v

Celju je študij nadaljevala na Fakulteti za arhitekturo v Ljubljani. Po končanem študi-

ju je nekaj let službovala v Wiesbadnu in Celju, kjer se je ukvarjala s projektiranjem in

urbanizmom. Poučevala je tudi na Srednji gradbeni šoli v Celju, v podjetju Gorenje pa

se je zaposlila na oddelku za grafično oblikovanje. Od leta 1989 ima status svobodne

umetnice na področju literarnega in likovnega ustvarjanja, zadnja leta pa se posveča

izključno ustvarjanju otroških avtorskih slikanic.

Prva slikanica, za katero je napisala besedilo in jo v celoti ilustrirala, so bile Živalske
uspavanke leta 2000. Slikanica Zakaj? (2002) se je uvrstila v učne programe v Nemčiji,
Franciji, Avstraliji in v še nekaterih drugih državah, leta 2008 pa so Japonci po njej pos-
neli 26 delov risane serije z naslovom Gao Gao Buuu. Med knjižnimi izdajami velja omeni-
ti še naslednja dela: Zgodbe in nezgodbe (1993, besedilo), To je … (1996, besedilo), Male živali
(1999, besedilo in ilustracije), Resnične pravljice in pripovedke (1999, besedilo in ilustracije),
Kuža pazi (1999, ilustracije), Živalska abeceda (2002, besedilo in ilustracije), Mednarodni
živalski slovar (2004, besedilo in ilustracije), I like colours (2005, ilustracije), 1001 pravljica
(2005, besedilo in ilustracije), Kam gredo sanje (2008, besedilo in ilustracije), Dinozavri?!
(2009, besedilo in ilustracije), Jezične zgodbe (2010, besedilo), Zakaj so zebre progaste? - poseb-
na izdaja v braillovi pisavi in Zakaj? - priredba za gluhoneme (obe 2010, besedilo in ilus-
tracije). Njene avtorske slikanice, pod katere se podpisuje s psevdonimom Lila Prap, so

prevedene v osemintridesetih državah.

Grafično je oblikovala različne tiskovine za slovenske in mednarodne humanitarne

organizacije ter kulturne ustanove ali jih opremila z ilustracijami. S satiričnimi

prispevki za odrasle je sodelovala v časopisih in revijah, medtem ko ilustracije, liter-

arne prispevke in miselne orehe za otroke objavlja v slovenskih otroških revijah.
Napisala je tudi nekaj otroških iger za gledališče, plesni teater in radio: Zaljubljeni
čarovnik (gledališka predstava, 1995), Kosmata žaba (muzikal, 1997 in radijska igra, 2000),
Male živali (plesna predstava, 2000) in Zakaj? (lutkovna igrica, 2003). Njene ilustracije so
bile predstavljene tako na samostojnih kot skupinskih razstavah doma in po svetu. Za

svoje ustvarjanje na področju ilustracije, literature, karikature in oblikovanja je pre-

jela vrsto nagrad doma in na tujem, omenimo samo nekatere: leta 1999 priznanje Hinka
Smrekarja za ilustracijo, leta 2001 Levstikovo nagrado za ilustracije v slikanicah Male
živali in Živalske uspavanke in mednarodno priznanje White Raven Special Mention za Male
živali, leta 2002 mednarodno priznanje za ilustracijo IBBY Honour List v Baslu, leta
2005 nagrada za izvirno slovensko slikanico in mednarodno priznanje White Raven
Special Mention - obe za Mednarodni živalski slovar, leta 2006 mednarodno priznanje
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award - za slikanico Zakaj? in nominacije za nagrado
Astrid Lindgren (v letih 2006, 2007, 2008 in 2010) ter za Andersenovo nagrado (v letih

2006 in 2008).

Nagrado Prešernovega sklada za leto 2011 je prejela za razstavi Prostor za likovne, literarne,
glasbene in igrane zgodbe Lile Prap v Galeriji sodobne umetnosti Celje ter Lilijana Praprotnik
Zupančič: Lila Prap v Centru in Galeriji P74 v Ljubljani.

Barbara Kalan

Priložene reprodukcije

Ilustracija za knjigo Dinozavri?!, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2008
Ilustracija za knjigo Moj očka, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2009
Ilustracija za knjigo Moj očka, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2009
Ilustracija za knjigo Kam gredo sanje?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2006
Ilustracija za knjigo Kam gredo sanje?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2006
Ilustracija za knjigo Zakaj?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2004
Ilustracija za knjigo Zakaj?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2004
Ilustracija za knjigo Pasji zakaji, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2010

Na naslovnici in na desni: Ilustracija za knjigo Pasji zakaji, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2010
Zgoraj: Ilustracija za knjigo Dinozavri?!, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2008



Galerija Prešernovih nagrajencev
za likovno umetnost Kranj

Glavni trg 18, 4000 Kranj, 04/202 57 16
www.gpn.kranj.si
[email protected]

Vodja galerije: Marko Arnež ● Organizacija: Marko Arnež in mag. Barbara Kalan
Postavitev razstave: Marko Arnež

Izdal: Gorenjski muzej, www.gorenjski-muzej.si - zanj: Marija Ogrin

Besedilo: dr. Lev Menaše ● Biografija: mag. Barbara Kalan ● Prevod: Jana Kranjec Menaše
Lektura in korekture: Milena Ilič in mag. Barbara Kalan

Fotografije: iz osebnega arhiva Lile Prap, Tone Stojko, foto Dimc ● Oblikovanje: Marko Tušek
Tisk: Tiskarna GTO Košir ● Naklada: 300 izvodov
Delovanje galerije omogoča Mestna občina Kranj.

Kranj, december 2011



chance for another simplified division: illustrations can be cute or not. The story is per-
petually repeated in Slovene visual art as well: the beginnings are indeed neutral, real-
istic, but once we reach the Vesnani this duality appears, which is probably the most obvi-
ous in the comparison of Maksim Gaspari and Gvido Birolla. Due to apparent common fea-
tures, the difference between the two is all the more visible: Gaspari (mostly) wishes to
please, so his works - from tiny vignettes to table paintings - are cute; Birolla digs deep-
er, therefore his works often have a threatening effect.

This basic division is even more noticeable in the case of illustrations for children,
among which nowadays the cute ones prevail, although it was not always so. From my
childhood years I remember Marij Pregelj's illustrations for Perrault's French Fairytales
(1957): although he followed the tradition of medieval illuminated manuscripts (which
were mostly appealing, too, although not for entirely the same reasons ), he created an
impressive variant of his own visual world.

It would today be difficult to imagine "Pregelj-like" illustrations in a book dedicated to
children. The reason for this is probably the essentially altered understanding of chil-
dren and childhood, the change of which took place during the last half of the previous
century; the ascertaining of the characteristics of this change and its causes surpasses the
limitations of this catalogue. We must therefore restrict ourselves to stating one of the
numerous consequences, the only one of interest in this case - i. e., that in the last decades
the cute illustration has completely prevailed in the Slovene children's literature.

We thus arrive to Lila Prap and her works. Attention should be drawn to the fact that
they are not merely illustrations but also texts. These are cute as well, marked by char-
acteristic slight humour; it is interesting, however, that the topics are often archetyp-
al. In one of the stories from Why? the motif of crocodile tears can be found which in
European literature reaches all the way back to Physiologus, the text written (supposedly
in the 2nd century AD) by an unknown author in Alexandria, but best known from numer-
ous medieval repetitions and variants - only in this case, the answer is not moralistic but
easygoing.

Such links are also interesting from the visual point of view, since the style of illus-
trations can - by using Izidor Cankar's systematisation - easily be defined as "two-dimen-
sional", the definition which could (according to Cankar) be used above all with a great
part of medieval art. It is in fact often possible to copy Cankar's definitions: as for the
"depiction of corporeality", Lila Prap's characters are nothing other than "a projection
of bodies into surface, obtained by means of lines"; when we view her "depiction of space",
we may state that she as a rule "did not use even the slightest means to evoke the illu-
sion of space depth"; and finally, her composition is "confined", as it "exists through sur-
face addition … and aims at absolute symmetry of figures". We only get stuck with the
definition of the contents, not because Lila Prap's art could not be defined as "idealis-
tic", but because Izidor Cankar had something completely different in mind with this def-
inition.

But this definition can be used in a way Cankar would disagree with, firstly ascertain-
ing that a considerable part of modern art has been "idealistic" and that the works of
Lila Prap belong among such works of art. In addition it is possible to say that hers and
other similar illustrations treat children as ideal little beings, thus consolidating
their desired self-image and - just as important - the image that adults wish to have of the
children: at this point, we again come across the altered understanding of children and
childhood. Or would it make more sense to speak about the restriction of a former con-
cept? The "Pregelj-like" answer is at the moment perhaps forgotten, but it is still valid.
It is for this reason also that the questions remain open.

Lev Menaše

List of illustrations:

Illustration for the book Dinosaurs?!, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2008
Illustration for the book Daddies, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2009
Illustration for the book Daddies, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2009
Illustration for the book Where Do Dreams Go?, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2006
Illustration for the book Where Do Dreams Go?, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2006
Illustration for the book Why?, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2004
Illustration for the book Why?, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2004
Illustration for the book Doggy Questions, chalk, 60 x 30 cm, 2010

Biography

Lilijana Praprotnik Zupančič - Lila Prap was born in 1955 in Celje. After completing high
school education in Celje she studied at the Academy for Architecture in Ljubljana.
Following her graduation she spent some years in Wiesbaden and Celje, employed in planning
and urbanism. She also taught at the Construction Vocational School in Celje, and worked
in the enterprise Gorenje in the graphic design department. Since 1989 she has been working
as a freelance artist in the field of literary and visual arts; during the recent years she has
dedicated herself exclusively to the creation of original children's picture books of which
she is the only author.

The first picture book for which she wrote the text and which she illustrated herself was
Animal Lullabies from 2000. The book Why? (2002) was included in curricula in Germany, France,
Australia and a few other states as well, and in 2008 the Japanese filmed 26 episodes of the
animated cartoons series titled Gao Gao Buuu after this book. Other books worth mentioning
here are the following: Stories and Non-stories (1993, text), This is … (1996, text), Little Animals (1999,
text and illustrations), Realistic Tales and Fables (1999, text and illustrations), Beware Dog (1999,
illustrations), Animal Alphabet (2002, text and illustrations), Animals' International Dictionary
(2004, text and illustrations), I Like Colours (2005, illustrations), 1001 Stories (2005, text and
illustrations), Where Do Dreams Go (2008, text and illustrations), Dinosaurs?! (2009, text and
illustrations), Tongue Stories (2010, text), Why Are Zebras Striped? - a special Braille edition and
Why? - a video adaptation for the hearing impaired (both 2010, texts and illustrations). Her
original picture books which she signs using the pseudonym Lila Prap have been translated
in thirty-eight states.

She graphically designed various printed matters for Slovene and international humanitarian
organizations and cultural institutions, or illustrated them. She contributed satirical texts
for adults to papers and journals, while her illustrations, literary texts or puzzles for chil-
dren are being published in Slovene children's magazines. She wrote a few children's plays for
theatre, dance theatre and radio: Magician in Love (theatre, 1995), Shaggy Frog (musical, 1997 and
radio play, 2000), Little Animals (dance theatre, 2000), and Why? (puppet theatre, 2003). Her illus-
trations have been shown at solo as well as group exhibitions at home and abroad. For her cre-
ativity in illustration, literature, caricature and design she received a number of domestic and
foreign awards. Let us mention but a few: in 1999, the Hinko Smrekar Recognition for illus-
tration, in 2001, the Levstik Award for illustrations in picture books Little Animals and Animal
Lullabies plus the international White Raven Special Mention for Little Animals, in 2002, the inter-
national recognition for illustration IBBY Honour List in Basel, in 2005, the Award for the
Authentic Slovene Picture Book and the international White Raven Special Mention - both
for Animals' International Dictionary, in 2006, the international recognition Oppenheim Toy
Portfolio Gold Award for the picture book Why?, and nominations for the Astrid Lindgren
Award (in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010) and for the Andersen Award (in 2006 and 2008).

Lila Prap received the 2011 Prešeren Fund Award for the exhibitions A Space for Visual, Literary,
Musical and Acted Stories by Lila Prap in the Gallery of Contemporary Art Celje, and Lilijana
Praprotnik Zupančič: Lila Prap in the Centre and Gallery P74 in Ljubljana.

Barbara Kalan





Ilustracija za knjigo Dinozav

Lapinlahti/Dunaj, mešana tehnika na platnu, 200 x 62 cm, 1993/2010

vri?!, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2008

Ilustracija za knjigo Moj oč

čka, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2009

Ilustracija za knjigo Moj oč

čka, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2009

Ilustracija za knjigo Kam gredo

o sanje?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2006

Ilustracija za knjigo Kam gredo

o sanje?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2006

Ilustracija za knjigo Zaka

aj?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2004

Ilustracija za knjigo Zaka

aj?, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2004

Ilustracija za knjigo Pasji za

akaji, kreda, 60 x 30 cm, 2010

Galerija Prešernovih nagrajencev
za likovno umetnost
Kranj
Glavni trg 18
4000 Kranj
04/202 57 16
www.gpn.kranj.si
[email protected]

Kranj, december 2011

Ta publikacija
je v tiskani različici izšla
v obliki mape

(na fotografijah)