'De Tweede Kus'.
Conz is part of the new wave of Flemish graphic novelists who emerged in the 2000s. He is known for the graphic novels 'Toen Ik Nog Baas Van De Wereld Was' (2004) and the 'De Tweede Kus' trilogy (2005-2007). The books are characterized by a strong sense for humanity and nostalgia, and have earned their creator much praise for his storytelling qualities. Conz is additionally active as a children's book illustrator, advertising artist and animation teacher.
Early life
Constantijn Van Cauwenberghe was born in 1977 in Ukkel, near Brussels. His father was Johan Van Cauwenberghe, a well-known Flemish radio presenter, poet and graphic artist. Conz counts Hergé, Edgar P. Jacobs, Morris, Jef Nys, Alan Moore, Daniel Clowes, Chester Brown and Frank Miller’s version of 'Batman' among his graphic influences. He studied at the Sint-Lukas School of Arts in Brussels, where he graduated in animation and graphic design, with a specialization in comics. Among his teachers were Pascal Lefèvre and Nix.
Early career
In 2000, Conz published a short comic story in the magazine Demo about a high school basketball team. In November of that year, one of his teachers, Johan Stuyck, published INK, a tri-monthly magazine in which young graphic talent could publish work. Originally most of Conz' contributions were sardonic parodies of other comic series. Eventually he started creating more original work, encouraged by Jan Bucquoy. Most of these comics were autobiographical in nature.
'Toen Ik Nog Baas Van De Wereld Was'.
Toen Ik Nog Baas Van De Wereld Was
Conz' comic book 'Toen Ik Nog Baas Van De Wereld Was' (Oogachtend, 2004) was a collection of five semi-autobiographical short stories about his childhood in Leuven. They were all originally published in Ink, except for the final short story. A running thread through all tales is that Conz and his best friend Martin are often caught up in their imagination, missing out on what is really going on around them. Conz' grandma, for instance, is in ailing health. And while Conz and Martin enjoy playing medieval knights, their friendship later drifts apart once Martin and a local girl fall in love. Conz has stated that most of the stories in the beginning are based on true events, while later "anecdotes" are mostly imagined. He did confirm that he once dropped his pants in the city park.
De Tweede Kus
Conz followed this up with the three graphic novels 'Ringo' (2005), 'Martha' (2006) and 'Hanne' (2007), all published by Oogachtend. The three books form the 'De Tweede Kus' trilogy, translated into French as 'Quelque Part Les Etoiles' in 2011. A touching and emotional story about being young, relationships and broken dreams, it established the author's reputation as a great storyteller. In a combination of present time, flashbacks and flashforwards, Conz tells the story of young Ringo, who travels to Australia to run away from his demons and find his childhood sweetheart Hanne.
De Slag om Turnhout
In 2006, Conz was the official city artist of Turnhout, during which he made the pantomime comic 'De Slag om Turnhout' (2006). The book, which basically centered around a walk through foggy Turnhout, was published in a limited edition by Strip Turnhout.
'Martha'.
Jomme(ke)
In 2010, Conz was one of many artists who made a graphic contribution to the book 'Jommekes Bij De Vleet' (Ballon, 2010), which paid homage to 'Jommeke' creator Jef Nys. In 2020, Conz contributed his version of the 'Jommeke' episode 'De Haaienrots' to the spin-off collection 'Jomme'. Previous volumes in this series were reinterpretations of classic 'Jommeke' stories by Griffo and Steven Dupré.
Editorial cartoons
Conz provided humorous cartoons for various regional news magazines, including Leuven Actueel, Tienen Actueel and Aarschot Actueel, circulating in respectively the cities Leuven (Louvain), Tienen (Tirlemont) and Aarschot. They also appeared in the nationally syndicated newspaper De Standaard.
Book illustrations
In 2009, Lannoo published the comic 'Wat Zie Je In De zee?', a pantomime illustrated book about various sea creatures, aimed at toddlers. Together with writer Peter Nys, Conz made several educational illustrated children's books about famous historical scientists, published by Clavis. Works like 'De Laatste Kans Op Kosmos' (2017), 'En Garde!' (2018), 'Wijze Woorden van Meester Kong' (2019) and 'Een Snuifje Radium' (2020) are written in a novel format, livened up with Conz' drawings. For Clavis' 'Knappe Koppen' series, Nys and Conz also made historical-educational biographical children's books about various great minds from history, such as 'Alexander von Humboldt' (2021), 'Marie Curie' (2022), 'Nikola Tesla' (2023), 'Leonardo da Vinci' (2024) and their first book about a philosopher: 'Confucius' (2024). The 'Knappe Koppen' books have also been translated into English under the title: 'Great Minds'. With writer Emy Geskens, Conz also made the book 'Het Antipestplan' (Clavis, 2020), intended to discourage bullying in schools.
Teaching career
Conz works as a part-time teacher at the animation department of a college in Mechelen. In June 2021, he guided an elementary school project against prejudices and extremism, 'Helden and Schurken', organized by police zone RIHO. Seven class groups from five schools in West Flanders made a special comic book for this project, with aid from Conz. In 2024, Conz also organized a workshop in drawing comics, 'Stripfiguren Tekenen met Conz', for elementary school children.
Graphic contributions
Conz was one of the contributors to the anthology 'Bruss: Brussels in Shorts' (Oogachtend, 2013). For the Facebook page of the Dutch comic publisher Strip2000, he additionally made the strip 'Felix & Co'. In 2017, he also paid tribute to André Franquin's 'Gaston Lagaffe' in the collective homage album 'Gefeliciflaterd!' (2017). The next year Conz wrote the script to 'Boemerang' (2018), a graphic novel illustrated by Steven Dupré. The story revolves around Theofiel Boemerang, the vacuum cleaner salesman from Willy Vandersteen's 'Suske en Wiske', who is reimagined as a dictator-like capitalist living in a dystopian universe.
Between 23 and 27 July 2007, a series of graffiti paintings were exhibited at the beach of Zeebrugge. Forming a mural painting of 60 meters long and 1.25 meters high, the images featured works by more than 80 European artists, giving their artistic impression of the sea, among them Conz, Herr Seele and Charel Cambré. Afterwards, the panels were auctioned for the benefit of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). On 4 September 2015, the Belgian postal service Bpost launched ten stamps, designed by Conz. Made in collaboration with paleontologist and dinosaur specialist Pascal Godefroit, the stamps depict dinosaur skeletons found in Belgium, like the famous Iguanodons dug up in Bernissart in 1878.
Conz has also made advertising comics and cartoons for companies like IKEA, Honda Motors, classical music radio channel Klara and the radioactive waste storage organisation STORA. Conz also drew a special comic book, 'Het Verhaal van 25 Jaar Stora in Dessel' (2024) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of STORA. The same year, he also made a historical comic to celebrate the 120th anniversary of football club Racing Mechelen: '120 Jaar Racing Mechelen'. For the comics store Gobelijn in Leuven, Conz is basically their house cartoonist, making regular illustrations and designing their current logo: a small, pointy-nosed demon reading a comic.
Recognition
In 2005, Conz' 'Toen Ik Nog Baas Van De Wereld Was' won the Debut Prize at the Comics Festival of Turnhout (A.K.A. 'De Blikken Biebel'). Between 1 and 30 March 2024, Conz' children's book illustrations were exhibited in the library of Zedelgem, at the occasion of the annual 'Jeugdboekenmaand' ("Juvenile Books Month").
Media activities
Among general audiences, Conz gained some media attention in 2006 when he guest-starred in several episodes of the popular TV quiz 'De Slimste Mens ter Wereld'.
'Wat Zie Je In De Zee?'.