Roee Rosen | Lucy Is Sick, A Coloring Book

Roee Rosen has recently published a colouring book with Paranoia TV entitled Lucy Is Sick / Lucy ist Krank (2020).

 

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Lucy first appeared nearly thirty years ago as the decidedly hetero-male enfant terrible protagonist of an early artist book by Roee Rosen. In this early book, as in many later ones of Rosen’s to follow, poignant and labyrinthine literary texts accompany fine pen drawings, featuring Lucy as a dandyish younger relative of Max and Moritz (who appear in his thoughts). Now, nearly three decades later, Lucy is back and he is sick. In this coloring book made for Paranoia TV, Rosen follows his protagonist’s encounter with a rare and painful form of bone cancer. In short, surreal literary episodes, he delves into the effects the different stages of illness have on his body, his mind, and his relationships. These texts, translated into German by acclaimed author Thomas Melle, are accompanied by elaborate black-and-white drawings that lead into a labyrinth of illness, just as coloring them might provide an exit from the inevitable boredom that illness and treatment entail. The coloring book for Paranoia TV is the first chapter of a larger literary project, which will eventually lead to a full-length book. In cooperation with the Landeskrankenhaus Universitätsklinikum Graz, it is presented to in-patients during the festival. A limited edition with crayons is available at the Paranoia TV Headquarters.

October 15, 2020