Joanna Concejo
She was born in 1971 in Slupsk, Poland and graduated from the Poznan Academy of Fine Arts in 1998, in drawing and illustration. In 1994, she moved to France, to the Parisian suburbs, where she lives and works. In the late 1990s, she began working as an illustrator and plastic artist.
Since 2000, she has been selected and invited to numerous events: for the Salon Jeune Création in France (2000), the Busan Biennial of Contemporary Art in South Korea (2002), the Salon of Contemporary Art in Chelles (France), the Illustrators’ Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and the Illustration Biennial “Ilustrarte” in Barreiro (Portugal) in 2005, 2009 and 2013. He won the Calabria Incantata award in Altomonte (Italy) in 2004 and in 2013 IBBY Poland awarded him the ‘Book of the Year’ award in the Illustration category. In 2018, the Bologna Ragazzi Award reported her book Une âme égarée and gave her a special mention in the Fiction category.
She collaborates as a teacher with the illustration school ‘Ars in Fabula’ in Macerata and with the International School of Illustration in Sarmede.
Alongside her work as an illustrator, she also devotes herself to the field of visual arts (sculpture, ceramics). Since 2010, she has regularly collaborated with Le Petit Atelier de Paris (www.lepetitatelierdeparis.com) with porcelain creations, unique illustrated plates, series of screen-printed plates, screen-printed linen, etc.
She regularly collaborates with Wydawnictwo Literackie editions in Krakow on the covers of books by Olga Tokarczuk (Nobel Prize for Literature 2019).
She has twice received a grant from CNL: in 2013 for the book Quando i ribes saranno maturi; in 2016 for the book Sénégal.
“The Emperors New Illustrators” (Bologna 2005, mostra dedicata all’opera di J.Ch. Andersen),
“Figures Futur” – “Alice et Peter” (Fiera del Libro e della Stampa Jeunesse, Montreuil, Francia),
“Blue Book” in Iran ed Emirati Arabi Uniti,
“Le Immagini delle Fantasia” a Sarmede in Italia (2008, 2010 e 2015),
“Tea with Alice” a Oxford nel 2012,
“È sempre l’ora del tè” presso l’Estonian Children’s Literatur Centre di Tallin (Estonia) nel 2015,
“L’illustration des contes” presso il Centro André François a Margny-les-Compiègnes nel 2015,
“Le Petit Chaperon Rouge” presso la Biblioteca Comunale di Eragny nel 2016,
“L’œil intérieur” alla Galerie Serpent Vert di Parigi nel 2019,
“Triennale d’Illustration” a Tallin (Estonia) nel 2020,
“VIP Exposition” alla Maison Galerie Daejeon (Corea del Sud) nel 2021.
Several solo exhibitions have been dedicated to her, including ‘Around the garden’ with Hamelin cultural association in Bologna in 2008, two exhibitions at Perve Gallery in Lisbon, the exhibition at the Mediatheque Saint-Herblain in 2011, in 2013 the exhibition ‘In the branches’ in Bologna in 2014, ‘Les visages du lointain’ at the Beurnier-Rossel Museum in Montbéliard in 2015, ‘In the studio of the artist Joanna Concejo’ at the Angle Gallery in Saint Paul Trois Châteaux, and “ Special stories” at the Arttrakt Gallery in Wroclaw (Poland), “Little Red Riding Hood” at the Centre Una Volta in Bastia in 2017, “La Fabrique des images de Joanna Concejo” at the Nougaterie Soubayran in Montélimar (2017), “The picture garden in winter ”at the Albus Gallery in Seoul, South Korea 2017, ‘Histoires fragiles’ at the Galerie Robillard in Paris in 2018, ‘ Zgubiona dusza – jestem, rysuje “ at Dom Slow in Lublin (Poland) in 2018, ”Concept’ at the gallery of the Artistic University of Poznan (Poland) in 2018, an exhibition of illustrations as part of the Biennial of Illustrators of Moulins at the Devaux Bookshop in Moulins, ‘A Lost Soul’ at the Cervantes Institute in Warsaw (Poland) in 2019, “Szeptem o istocie i naturze” at the Satyrykon Gallery in Legnica ( Poland) 2020, “Une âme égarée” at Albus Gallery in Seoul (South Korea) 2020, “Temps de Joanna Concejo” at Maison Temps-Rêves in Taipei (Taiwan) in 2021, ‘Sénégal et Quand les groseilles seront mûres’ at the INSPE Library in Toulouse (France) in 2021, “Une âme égarée” at the Villa Marguerite Yourcenar (France, 2021).
In 2017, she participated in the IKEA Art Event, invited, along with 9 other artists, to create an original drawing for this event.
In 2008, her first books appeared, Il signor Nessuno (Topipittori) and Grand et petit (Atelier du Poisson Soluble, France). This was followed by L’angelo delle scarpe (Topipittori /ed. fr. Notari, Switzerland); Humo (OQO, Spain); Au clair de la nuit (Motus, France); Cuando no encuentras tu casa (OQO, Spain); I cigni selvatici di Hans Christian Andersen (Topipittori /ed. fr. Notari, Switzerland); Entrez! (Rouergue); Zimbo (OQO, Spain); Una stella nel buio (Topipittori/ed. fr. Notari, Switzerland); Un pas à la fois (Notari, Switzerland); Les fleurs parlent (Casterman, France); Ksiaze w Cukierni (The prince in the pastry, Format, Poland), winner of the IBBY/Poland Section ‘Book of the Year 2013’ award; Little Red Riding Hoods (BIR Publishing, South Korea); Quand les groseilles seront mûres (Atelier du Poisson Soluble, France); Une âme égarée (Wydawnictwo Format, Poland, 2017) by Olga Tokarczuk – Nobel Prize for Literature in 2019; Ne le dis à personne (Wydawnictwo Format, Poland); M come il mare (Topipittori); Sénégal (L’Atelier du Poisson Soluble, France).
She participated in the book collective: To love by Cécile Roumiguière published by A pas de loup, Brussels; Ti porto in viaggio by Carl Norac, published by A pas de loup, Brussels.