Political Cartooning
Saturday, May 14, 2011 - Sunday, September 4, 2011
The four works in this gallery span three countries–the United States, Mexico, and England–and date from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Though each reflects circumstances particular to the artists' time and place and were subject to varied means of circulation, they can all be considered types of political cartoons.
The etchings of James Gillray, who worked in the early 1800s in London, are considered a precursor to modern day political cartoons. Print shows often commissioned Gillray to respond to an event within a week of its occurrence. He chose etching as his printmaking medium based on its ability to yield large editions, and his sample prints were pasted to the shops' windows in much the same way tabloids are displayed in newsstands today. Frequently, the subject whom Gillray portrayed would purchase the entire edition and thus suppress its public distribution in an effort to save face.
Founder of Taller de Gráfica Popular [Popular Graphics Workshop] (1937–52), Leopoldo Méndez, was central to the resurgence of printmaking in Mexico in the mid-twentieth century, often advocating for social justice and satirizing political events in his work. Méndez favored the printmaking techniques of woodcut, linocut, and lithography because of their low costs and potential for unlimited editions, which aligned them ideologically and aesthetically with mass distribution and political criticism. His works circulated publicly as posters and banners and were later compiled into limited edition portfolios for private collections.
Today, digital media and the Internet offer analogous outlets for mass communication to printed matter of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, though they offer the advantage of almost instantaneous feedback on current events broadcast to a wider public than ever before. Kenneth TIn-Kin Hung's work combines the aesthetics and language of video games, YouTube, and the blogosphere with those of political cartoons and social satire.
The etchings of James Gillray, who worked in the early 1800s in London, are considered a precursor to modern day political cartoons. Print shows often commissioned Gillray to respond to an event within a week of its occurrence. He chose etching as his printmaking medium based on its ability to yield large editions, and his sample prints were pasted to the shops' windows in much the same way tabloids are displayed in newsstands today. Frequently, the subject whom Gillray portrayed would purchase the entire edition and thus suppress its public distribution in an effort to save face.
Founder of Taller de Gráfica Popular [Popular Graphics Workshop] (1937–52), Leopoldo Méndez, was central to the resurgence of printmaking in Mexico in the mid-twentieth century, often advocating for social justice and satirizing political events in his work. Méndez favored the printmaking techniques of woodcut, linocut, and lithography because of their low costs and potential for unlimited editions, which aligned them ideologically and aesthetically with mass distribution and political criticism. His works circulated publicly as posters and banners and were later compiled into limited edition portfolios for private collections.
Today, digital media and the Internet offer analogous outlets for mass communication to printed matter of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, though they offer the advantage of almost instantaneous feedback on current events broadcast to a wider public than ever before. Kenneth TIn-Kin Hung's work combines the aesthetics and language of video games, YouTube, and the blogosphere with those of political cartoons and social satire.