Philippe Druillet enters the Eisner Hall of Fame, Christie’s first AI-focused sale exceeds expectations, and Sorayama’s elusive Mechanical Goddess lands in Shanghai. Read more in Post Rendered’s news roundup for March 2025.
Philippe Druillet inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame
Humanoids posted in late February that Philippe Druillet will be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards’ Hall of Fame this year. Druillet is a French illustrator and co-founder of Métal hurlant. He is perhaps best known for his Lone Sloane character, with the most recognized and celebrated entry in the long-running series being his reinterpretation of Gustave Flaubert’s Salammbo. Outside of comics, Druillet also served as art director for the video game Salammbo: Battle for Carthage, and even had his work featured in the 2023 concert Philippe Druillet & Zombie Zombie: Un Voyage Hallucine. Druillet will turn 81 this year.
Via Humanoids
Shinkai finds Falcom has diligently preserved his work
Time Extension reported that anime director Makoto Shinkai, known for films Your Name and Suzume, recently returned to visit his old employer, Nihon Falcom. Shinkai was a storyboard artist and animation director for the company, having created the opening movie to Ys II Eternal, among several others. While touring his old worksite, he found that Nihon Falcom had kept his work from nearly twenty-five years prior, stating, “I was deeply touched to see that my work from that time has been carefully preserved.”
Christie’s holds premier AI-focused art show
ArtNews reported that Christie’s first auction dedicated solely to images created by artificial intelligence exceeded expectations, amassing a sum of nearly $730, 000 over a projected $600, 000.
An open letter signed by almost 4000 individuals had urged Christie’s to stop the show in response to concerns over AI models using copyrighted material. Christie’s responded with the statement, “The artists represented in this sale have strong, existing multidisciplinary art practices, some recognized in leading museum collections. The works in this auction are using artificial intelligence to enhance their bodies of work.”
Post Rendered Recommends: Sorayama’s Mechanical Goddess at the Kongshanji exhibition
The Kongshanji exhibition in Shanghai opened late last month, and features a sculpture by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. Soryama’s Mechanical Goddess was first featured at the 2018 DIOR fashion show, but was only on display for one day. The Kongshanji exhibition takes place from February 28 – June 15, 2025. Information (in English) on attending the exhibition can be found on ohohfly’s Instagram.