
Edel Rodriguez
6th
Pictoplasma
Conference
NYC 2017
NOVEMBER 17, 2017
PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN
The Auditorium
SEE YOU AGAIN IN 2018!!!
REGISTRATION NO LONGER AVAILABLE
CONFERENCE
ARTIST TALKS,
LECTURES AND
PRESENTATIONS
The Pictoplasma Conference presents 8+ hand picked key lectures by the world’s most influential artists and upcoming talents, cutting-edge graphic, toy and game designers and leading animation filmmakers. It is the meeting point for 500+ international attendees, offering the chance to learn from, be inspired by, and rub shoulders with some of today’s most innovative and avant-garde visual creators.
— CONFIRMED SPEAKERS —
Amandine Urruty
FR
Paris-based artist Amandine Urruty lives in and works from her bed, with a suitcase full of pens always at the ready. After studying at university for “far too many years” and a brief career in underground music, she now uses her outstanding drawing skills to create an astonishing repertoire of beasts and weird characters in all kinds of media—and exhibits the results around the globe
Cécile Dormeau
FR
Cécile Dormeau is a French illustrator based in the suburb of Paris. She worked in graphic design agencies and as a junior art director in an advertising agency for two years before starting her career as an illustrator. Using simple bold lines and bright colors, she creates illustrations and GIFs that explore body image and everyday issues faced by women.
Parallel to her personal projects, she works for clients such as Google, GQ, the Sunday Times.
Edel Rodriguez
CUB
Edel Rodriguez is a Cuban American artist who has exhibited internationally. Inspired by personal history, religious rituals, politics, memory, and nostalgia, his bold, figurative works are an examination of identity, mortality, and cultural displacement. He is a regular contributor to the The New York Times Op Ed page and The New Yorker magazine, and has created over a hundred newspaper and magazine covers.
GOOGLE /
EMILY MEINHARDT & ALICE MOLONEY
USA/UK
Alice Moloney is an art director and has always been fascinated by miniature things, pictograms, and characters—so she’s found her happy place in commissioning stickers. She has spent the last eight years creating, commissioning and teaching illustration, with a constant focus on exploring new spaces for it to be applied and experienced.



James Curran
UK
James Curran is a British animator and director with a background in videos games, music videos, commercials and most recently GIFs. As well as regularly working for clients including Disney, Nike and Samsung he has also become known for his Gifathon projects – 30 GIFs in 30 days in New York City, Los Angeles and Tokyo, based on his personal experiences while living in each city.
Jordan Bruner
USA
Brought up by a painter and a carpenter, Jordan seemed destined for a future in fine arts. Mythology, travel, and surprising narratives make Jordan’s work unique. Since joining Strange Beast, Jordan has directed commercials, music promos and interactive games for Linda McCartney, One Billion Rising and Paramore. Jordan’s style brings the screen to life, and offers surreal charm to any project. Beyond animation, Jordan has designed wallpaper, and soft furnishings as part of Clerkenwell Design Week.
Her work has been screened at various festivals including Sundance, Best of Animation Block Party, LA and Pictoplasma, Berlin. Jordan was a winner of New York’s ADC Young Guns 2013.



Mauro Gatti
IT/USA
Mauro Gatti is an Italian, Los Angeles based all-around creative guy in love with producing all sorts of fun stuff. During the day he is in charge of content creation at the amazing JibJab Studio; at night he truly awakes and splashes around in illustration, animation, game design, GIFs and children’s books illustration.
His work is full of humor and his style is iconic and simple, inspired by the illustration of the 60s and 70s. His clients include Google, Vodafone, WeTransfer, Barilla and other Italian brands. He is always in company of his inseparable bullmastiff Cyrus and his favorite quote is Charlie Chaplin’s ‘A day without laughter is a day wasted.’
Scott Benson
USA
Scott Benson is a self-taught Pittsburgh based animator, game developer, illustrator, and co-founder of the international indie animation collective Late Night Work Club.
He was the lead writer, artist and co-creator of the recently released video game Night In The Woods, a highly praised adventure focused on exploration, story, and character, featuring a memorable cast of anthropomorphic cartoon animals grappling with meaning and connection in a godless universe during late capitalism.
Sean Charmatz
USA
Sean Charmatz has worked in the animation industry since 2005. He has most notably served as a writer and director on ‘Spongebob Squarepants,’ in addition to designing, storyboarding, and developing shows for Disney and Dreamworks. In his spare time, Charmatz produces what he calls ‘explorations’ for his social media accounts. These experimental images and animations combine his talent for design and storytelling with found objects observed in everyday life – and have proven to be highly viral!
ANIMATION SCREENINGS
Big screen
psychedelic eye-candy and storytelling genius
The Conference’s film section brings animated newborns to the big screen, whisking the audience around the world in three freshly curated programmes brimming with psychedelic eye-candy and storytelling genius.

01)
Hi Stranger
2016 / USA / 03’00”
Kirsten Lepore
02)
Lovestreams
2016 / USA / 09’31’’
Sean Buckelew
03)
Split
2016 / USA / 01’30’’
Vincenzo Lodigiani
04)
The Absence of Eddy Table
2016 / NOR / 12’00’’
Rune Spaans
05)
Hey Fuzzy Yellow
2017 / USA / 01’23’’
Måns Swanberg
06)
Johnny Bubble
2016 / USA / 03’00”
Alan Resnick
07)
Scavengers
2016 / USA / 07’57’’
Joseph Bennett & Charles Huettner
08)
Wednesday with Goddard
2016 / UK / 04’32’’
Nicolas Ménard
09)
Tenere Taqqal
2016 / FR / 04’32’’
Axel Digoix
10)
I am Here
2017 / CA / 5’02’’
Eoin Duffy
11)
Unsatisfying
2016 / FR / 01’17’’
FLP Studio
12)
Ma’agalim
2016 / ISR / 03’31’’
Uri Lotan, Yoav Shtibelman
13)
Decorado
2016 / ES, FR / 11’00’’
Alberto Vazquez
14)
Space Diaspora
2016 / DE / 03’24’’
Moritz Reichartz
15)
Everything
2017 / USA / 10’36’’
David OReilly
SCHEDULE
10 am
11 am
1 pm
4 pm
6 pm
8 pm
Doors Open / Registration
Lectures: Jordan Bruner, Scott Benson
Lectures: Cécile Dormeau, Mauro Gatti, Google
Lectures: Edel Rodriguez, Amandine Urruty
Lectures: James Curran, Sean Charmatz
Screening: Characters in Motion 2017
HOSTED BY /
ORGANISED IN COLLABORATION WITH /
VENUE
PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN
THE AUDITORIUM
Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall
The New School
66 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10011
Designed and built in the 1930s by legendary architect Joseph Urban, the Auditorium is an impressive 468-seat venue with a proscenium-style stage. It was named one of the world’s most powerful rooms by ABC News in 2014, thanks to the incredible roster of public figures and leaders who have spoken there.
The Auditorium is located in Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall at 66 West 12th Street.
FAQ
A HAND FULL OF ANSWERS TO/