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Mike and Anita O’Brien at Ayr Cartoon Festival Pete Dredge writes: Like many cartoonists of a certain age, I first met Mike in the late...
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by Blog Team
by Royston
The Round-up
October 14, 2014 in Events, General, Links, News
© Viz for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival starts this Friday, 17 October, and runs through the weekend. Taking place in Kendal, it features talks, panels, workshops, screenings and more for cartoon and comic enthusiasts of all ages.
Those appearing at the event include creators of graphic novels, kids’ comics and newspaper strips, such as Dave Gibbons, Scott McCloud, Sarah McIntyre, Eddie Campbell and Stephen Collins along with cartoonists from The Phoenix and Viz. The latter’s promotional image, above, is a cheeky Fat Slags parody of the British Library’s Comics Unmasked exhibition poster.
A new exhibition called Hogarth’s London opens at the Cartoon Museum in London next week (22 October). It will feature William Hogarth’s images of the London of 250 years ago, both the highs and lows, which are some of the most recognisable pictures in the city’s history.
As usual the musuem will have a series of events to tie in with is main exhibition (which runs unril 18 January) including and evening of Baroque music and dance, gin, beer (and some cartooning) called The Hogarth Hop
“The postcards down here are positively disgusting! I must send you one!” Cartoon by Donald McGill
Also opening on 22 October at the Chris Beetles Gallery in St James’s, is a new selling exhibition of original artwork by Donald McGill, the acknowledged master of the saucy seaside postcard who was dubbed “the Picasso of the pier” by Dennis Potter. The show, which features more than 100 cartoons, runs until 8 November and ties in with a new biography of McGill by Bernard Crossley.
Also also on 22 October (busy day), Procartoonists member Chris Burke can be seen drawing and painting live at The Porterhouse in Covent Garden, in an event called Turner on the Terrace to promote the release of the new Mike Leigh film about the great artist (Turner that is, not Chris Burke). More details here.
Finally, our thoughts go out to the family of the cartoonist Bryan Reading who has died, aged 79, after battling cancer. He was a friend of many Procartoonists members and is remembered as a very funny cartoonist and a master draughtsman, as this cartoon shows.
Cartoon by Bryan Reading
by Royston
The Round-up
September 10, 2014 in Events, General, Links, News
Detail from Scene & Heard on the hacking trial © David Ziggy Greene. Click to enlarge
An exhibition of original art by Procartoonists.org member David Ziggy Greene, drawn for the reportage strip Scene & Heard, which has appeared in Private Eye since 2011, is at the Orbital Comics Gallery, 8 Great Newport Street, London, from 12 September until 10 October.
Entitled Scene & Hung, the exhibition ties in with the release of a book collection of Scene & Heard strips, described by Charlie Brooker as “as addictive as shelling and eating pistachio nuts”.
Meanwhile, PCO member Martin Rowson also has a collection out, called The Coalition Book, and is profiled by his local paper in south London.
Moose Kid Comics, the new venture by the cartoonist Jamie Smart and others, is taking over the Cartoon Museum in London for one afternoon only on 20 September, with workshops and talks by Smart, Gary Northfield and others. Booking is advisable: more details at the Cartoon Museum site.
BuzzFeed has a long piece, with lots of cartoons, “readers’ letters” and photos, on the unlikely rise, fall, and rise again of Viz comic.
Private Eye cartoon © Cluff
An exhibition of cartoons, drawings and paintings by John Longstaff, better known as Cluff, is at the Crown Street Art Gallery in Darlington from 20 September until 13 November. Cluff has been the Northern Echo cartoonist since 1990 and is also seen regularly in magazines such as Private Eye.
The Echo has news of an exhibition of Matt cartoons at Nunnington Hall, near York, from 13 September until 2 November. The selling exhibition is organised by the Chris Beetles Gallery.
A few interesting articles from the US: The Atlantic has an interview with the influential political cartoonist Pat Oliphant; Comics Alliance has a career-spanning interview with Berkeley Breathed; and the Huffington Post talks to the Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi.
by Blog Team
Cartoonists take the pastiche
June 19, 2014 in Events, General, News
Andrew Birch. Dumbo’s adolescence
Here are some more cartoon images by Procartoonists.org members from the exhibition Pastiche, Parody and Piracy. The show, which features fine artists alongside cartoonists, is at the the Cob Gallery from tomorrow (20 June) until 5 July.
See our original blog post on this here, along with the debate about the rights and wrongs of the exhibition in the comments section.
Alexander Matthews: “It’s like an illness with you, isn’t it?”
The Surreal McCoy. Morebucks
Royston Robertson. Rushmore
Clive Goddard. McNuggets
Nathan Ariss. Hokusai Fukushima
by Blog Team
Exhibition: Pastiche, Parody and Piracy
June 12, 2014 in Events, General, News
Steve Bell: “I licence the logo bearers …”
Many PCO members feature in an exhibition that brings together cartoonists and contemporary artists called Pastiche, Parody and Piracy and opens at the Cob Gallery in north London on 20 June.
The exhibition was put together by the the curator Camilla Ellingsen Webster with artist Miriam Elia and cartoonist Jeremy Banx, with the aim of showing the importance of the “appropriation” of images made by others in art and satire.
The team say that they were inspired to “celebrate the historical creative act of pastiche, parody and piracy” after Penguin UK threatened to pulp Elia’s book We Go to the Gallery, a parody of the Ladybird series of children’s books.
Alongside Banx, the PCO members involved are: Nathan Ariss, Steve Bell, Andrew Birch, Matt Buck, Wilbur Dawbarn, Pete Dredge, Noel Ford, Steve Jones, Kathryn Lamb, Chris Madden, Glenn Marshall, Alexander Matthews, Jonathan Pugh, Ken Pyne, Royston Robertson, Martin Rowson, Cathy Simpson, Bill Stott, The Surreal McCoy and Mike Turner.
Wilbur Dawbarn plays with Matisse’s Dance
As well as cartoons, this exhibition will feature projections, photographs, prints and collage that use or pastiche other works of art, characters and logos.
The use of other works – though it has long been a tool in art – can be a controversial issue, particularly as those works are often copyrighted. The exhibition has already stirred up debate within in the PCO, with some members refusing to take part.
The gallery says: “The pieces in this exhibition play with other people’s ideas and pre-existing works to showcase a selection of contemporary appropriation in art that is often mischievous, somewhat humorous, and often unsettling. It plays with what the viewer might be comfortable with and questions ideas of authorship and originality.”
The title for this exhibition was inspired by a proposed exception for parody, satire and pastiche in a government copyright law. If it is passed, the act of subverting and appropriating elements of popular culture will be protected from large companies that often seek to silence artists through the courts.
Chris Madden takes on the House of Mouse
“We believe this is crucial for the future of appropriative art and satire, and although the law has been delayed, we are putting on this exhibition to celebrate artists, satirists and cartoonists who are paving the way,” say the organisers.
Pastiche, Parody and Piracy: Exploring Different Approaches in Contemporary Art Appropriation is at The Cob Gallery, London NW1 from 20 June – 5 July. For more, email info@cobgallery.com or call 020-7209 9110
by Blog Team
The Round-up
June 4, 2014 in Events, General, Links, News
Never Again, World War One in Cartoon and Comic Art, will be held at the Cartoon Museum
Kasia Kowalska writes:
The next exhibition to at the Cartoon Museum in London is titled Never Again and will be on the subject of cartoons drawn during the First World War. It will run from 11 June to 19 October. Until then, there is still time to catch the Spitting Image 30th anniversary exhibition, which ends on 8 June.
Private Eye’s Scene & Heard comic strip, by Procartoonists.org member David Ziggy Greene, is to be published in hardback at the end of the month. The cartoonist is currently choosing the 50 strips that will feature.
The artist/cartoonist David Shrigley talks to The Guardian about how it is difficult in the world of fine art to have a comic voice.
Alex Salmond cartoon © Brian Adcock. Click to enlarge
The Norfolk-based cartoonist Brian Adcock is celebrating a hat-trick at the Scottish Press Awards this year. He is best known for his political cartoons for The Scotsman and The Independent.
Meanwhile, another political cartoonist, Christian Adams of the Telegraph, has given behind-the-scenes access to his cartooning process via Instagram. And if you have Sky Atlantic, you probably want to tune in at 9pm tonight (4 June) to see For No Good Reason, the documentary about Ralph Steadman.
© Michael Heath. The cartoonist’s first ever gag for The Spectator, from 1960
A new Twitter feed has been set up to showcase cartoons from The Spectator, old and new. It kicked off this week with the magazine’s first ever cartoon by Michael Heath, its cartoon editor, from 1960, above.
If you are a fan of the comics artist Dave McKean, do not miss the UK premiere of 9 Lives at the British Library on 6 June. The collection of songs, images and animation was first shown at Sydney Opera House last October and coincides with the Comics Unmasked exhibition. Meanwhile, it has been announced that the 5th International Graphic Novel and Comics Conference will be hosted at the library in July.
Returning to the centenary of the First World War, two other exhibitions open this month: Enduring War: Grief, Grit and Humour at the British Library, which is to examine how people coped with life during the conflict, and Charley’s War at Durlston Country Park, near Swanage, which will display artwork by Joe Colquhoun from the acclaimed comic strip.
Finally, this is great fun and very clever: the storyboard artist Marty Cooper takes an animated look at ordinary objects.
by Blog Team
The Round-up: Procartoonists special
May 7, 2014 in Events, General, Links, News
Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, illustrated by Kate Charlesworth © Mary Talbot, Kate Charlesworth, Brian Talbot
We’re blowing our own trumpet this week with a Round-up focusing on members of Procartoonists.org — the Professional Cartoonists Organisation — as they seem to be a busy lot at the moment.
First up is Kate Charlesworth, whose book Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, above, is out now. You can read a “behind the scenes” piece at Down the Tubes and a review at The Independent.
Ralph Steadman has been promoting the release of his documentary For No Good Reason in the US by talking to the LA Times and AV Club.
A series of cartoons by Andy Davey for the pressure group Clean Air In London is set to put pollution at the heart of the local elections, according to ITV.com.
Take Care, Son © Tony Husband
A book by Tony Husband about his dad’s dementia, Take Care, Son, is to be serialised in the Daily Mail. We’ll let you know when that happens. Meanwhile, he continues to tour his Cartoon History of Here with the poet Ian McMillan.
Many Procartoonists.org members contributed to a new exhibition called The Art of Drawing, at Stranraer Museum, after the organisers put out an urgent call to professional cartoonists to submit artwork, in order to show schoolchildren that a love of drawing can turn into a career. It runs until 7 June.
Simon Ellinas recently made an appearance on Channel 5 News illustrating a feature on David Cameron, Alex Salmond and the Scottish referendum.
Luis Suarez puts best foot forward for Phil Disley’s posters. Photos © Liverpool Echo. Click image to enlarge
Here’s an unusual one! Fifty paintings featuring the Liverpool striker Luis Suarez’s footprint have gone on sale. They were created by cartoonist Phil Disley. Read more at the Liverpool Echo.
Martin Rowson has been working with the Laurence Sterne Trust producing a collaborative artwork that the 18th-century satirist and creator of Tristram Shandy would have been proud of. There’s a Facebook gallery of the day here.
Cartoons on Demand © Royston Robertson
Cartoonist and editor of the Procartoonists blog Royston Robertson has collected together dozens of gags from Private Eye, Reader’s Digest and other magazines in a new book called Cartoons on Demand.
And finally, our patron Bill Tidy tells his local newspaper why he will never stop drawing cartoons. Quite right too.
by Blog Team
The Round-up
April 2, 2014 in Events, General, Links, News
Kasia Kowalska and Royston Robertson write:
The documentary Stripped, which covers the past, present and future of comic strips, looking at how they are affected by the digital age, has been released on iTunes. The Kickstarter-funded film certainly seems to have spoken to alll the major players.
There’s more at boingboing.net, which gives it a thumbs up. And the creators of the film discuss the survival of strips in a Q&A here.
With the First World war very much in the news, as its centenary approaches, the Daily Mirror looks at some of its satirical cartoons from the time. Meanwhile, a group of comics artists have published an anthology of stories to take on Michael Gove’s “jingoistic” view of the war.
Is laughter the best medicine? Researchers at the University of Southampton have used the work of Procartoonists.org member Fran Orford to show that cartoons can be beneficial in helping people to cope with long-term conditions.
The cartoonist and illustrator Bob Dewar has never sought the limelight, but The Scotsman says that a new exhibition of his work could change that.
Remember the animated Charley Says public-information films from the 1970s? They’re back, with comedian David Walliams doing the voiceover.
Excerpt from the strip that spawned the “Bechdel Test”. Click to enlarge
Alison Bechdel, the acclaimed creator of Fun Home and Dykes To Watch Out For, talks about creating women characters as subjects and not objects, in an interview with Sabine Brix. The above strip from 1985 spawned the Bechdel Test, which is now used by film academics to assess the roles of women in films.
Protesters in Turkey responded with cartoons when their government recently blocked access to YouTube and Twitter in the build up to the national elections on 30 March. But doubts remain over the future of the free press there, as Nicholas Clayton explains.
Two video lectures for you: the Iranian cartoonist Kianoush Ramezani on “Cartooning, the art of danger” and Mike Luckovich of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who says there is more to cartooning than meets the eye.
Finally, regular readers will know that the theme of this year’s Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival is music but can everyone name that (cartoon) tune? Try your luck and listen to the musicians at Carnegie Hall who played 43 different cartoon themes in under five minutes.
by Blog Team
The Round-up
February 10, 2014 in Events, General, Links, News
Kasia Kowalska writes:
Dave Walker, a Procartoonists member, talks about what makes him tick in a short film by Michal Dzierza, above, called Being A Cartoonist.
If you like to know what makes other people tick, a new exhibition celebrating the life and work of Mel Calman has opened at the Freud Museum in Hampstead, London. Titled Calman meets Freud, it explores the much-loved cartoonist’s interest in psychiatry and mental health.
Andy Davey has put his recent lecture on the future of political cartooning, which we previewed here, on his website “in windbaggy blog form” (his words, not ours).
Though they may not always admit it, cartoonists are often inspired by other cartoonists. Michael Maslin wanted to know what cartoon collections inspired his colleagues at The New Yorker. He calls these collections “Cartoon Bibles”.
Passion – even for cartoons – is not everything: Scott Adams, the man behind Dilbert, ponders the virtues of failure in this video interview. He has succeeded in writing a book about failure, above.
Sometimes even the most creative ventures fail, as the DrawQuest founder Chris Poole found out.
Yet some cartoons are destined for success. It has been 25 years since The Simpsons broke the mould and made social satire a household name. To celebrate, Lego has teamed up with Fox to re-create them as its iconic figures. Keeping with the celebratory spirit, the cartoonist and animator David Silverman has published early Simpsons drawings on Twitter.
Bill Watterson made the news by winning the Grand Prix at 41st Angouleme Festival in France for his timeless strip Calvin and Hobbes. Also, the 30th Aydın Doğan International Cartoon Competition in Turkey announced its winners, with the top prize going to a Polish cartoonist, Krzysztof Grzondziel.
One cartoonist who may be certain that such recognition will not present itself in his own country is Bonil of Ecuador. Following a press watchdog’s ruling that he had insulted Rafael Correa, the president, the newspaper El Universo was forced to publish a suitable “correction” from the cartoonist.
by Blog Team
A look back at St Just
October 17, 2013 in Events, General, News
Terry Anderson reports from the 32nd St Just-le-Martel cartoon festival, near Limoges in France.
© Terry Anderson @ Procartoonists.org
I was making my eighth trip to the event.
Charles De Gaulle by Mougey © Terry Anderson @ Procartoonists.org
(Ed adds: That’s probably more than Charles De Gaulle managed)
© Loup @ Procartoonists.org
I was delighted to learn the main exhibition space has been named the Espace Loup after an artist who has given an enormous amount of time and support to the Salon over the years.
Alongside the collections of cartoons and caricatures from around the world my eye was caught by the sculptures and drawings to be viewed with 3-D glasses by Mougey.
Also, a huge collection of American press cartoons from the Daryl Cagle website, whimsical animal illustrations by Turcios and a large selection of great cartoons by Doaa Eladl.
Midweek, I took some time out in Limoges and fell upon yet more cartoon exhibitions. The Museé de la Resistance had a showing of cartoon strips by artists from the Malmö centre, all meditations on or responses to Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus. Meanwhile at the Bibliothèque Francophone there was a hugely impressive retrospective on the Valérian and Laureline bandes dessineé.
During the second weekend the focus was firmly on cartooning in the USA and Middle East. Daryl Cagle won the prix de humour vaiche, with colleagues Pat Bagley, Bob Englehart and recent Pulitzer winner Steve Sack also honoured. After a debate about cartooning in Eqypt, Tunisia and the wider Arab world, the stage was packed for a photo in support of missing Syrian artist Akram Raslan. (Ed adds: There’s an update on Akram Raslan available from The Cartoonists’ Rights Network.)
The Americans receive the traditional Limousin cow © Terry Anderson @ Procartoonists.org
St.Just-le-Martel is mon maison spirituelle. I know I’ll be back and I look forward to contributing something to its next decade of success.
Ed adds: Many thanks to Terry for the report.