velcome cartoons
velcome cartoons rose from the ashes of destroyed political cartooning ambition. it's a more personal, more gothic, more wistful kind of work with the old political subjects translated into new stories of vampyres, castles and howling dogs. play the slideshow below -
* for some time now, i've no longer stood by the violence or aggression implicit or explicit in some of these cartoons. i've moved on but i'm not a stalinist so i havent deleted them
* for some time now, i've no longer stood by the violence or aggression implicit or explicit in some of these cartoons. i've moved on but i'm not a stalinist so i havent deleted them
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click thro the slideshow below or let it play on automatic
click thro the slideshow below or let it play on automatic
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INTRODUCTORY NOTE
in november 2013 an exhibition of velcome cartoons was held at the domino gallery, liverpool. the following note introduced that exhibition.
i worked as an independent radical political cartoonist in the first half decade of this century, burning brightly for a short while until my belief in the power of the medium to effect change died a death.
i changed tack, looking not at grand political events but instead at the personal idiosyncrasies of individuals as seen thro the prism of human givens such as death, lies, madness and such. as someone with a mental health condition which has pushed my chances of committing suicide up to 20% and a heart condition which has also reduced my life expectancy by a number of years, i have an unusual interest in death.
whimsy features often in the cartoons though it regularly works alongside this much darker element. black humour they call it.
i like to wander through history in my work, escaping from the oppressive norm of british C21st culture to the cliff tops of viking scandanavia or to the timeless dog deserts of southern north america or the medieval castles of the windswept northern coast. all of these places and many others like them exist in a different social environment to the one i am in right now and i like the escape. indeed many of the cartoons are in some way romantic, forlornly escapist.
when I'm not drawing people i'm drawing landscapes without people or where people are not significant. this preference for the unpopulated is also found in my photographs and reflects my own anti-social personality, happier making things than meeting people, happier with desolation than depravity and corruption.
i changed tack, looking not at grand political events but instead at the personal idiosyncrasies of individuals as seen thro the prism of human givens such as death, lies, madness and such. as someone with a mental health condition which has pushed my chances of committing suicide up to 20% and a heart condition which has also reduced my life expectancy by a number of years, i have an unusual interest in death.
whimsy features often in the cartoons though it regularly works alongside this much darker element. black humour they call it.
i like to wander through history in my work, escaping from the oppressive norm of british C21st culture to the cliff tops of viking scandanavia or to the timeless dog deserts of southern north america or the medieval castles of the windswept northern coast. all of these places and many others like them exist in a different social environment to the one i am in right now and i like the escape. indeed many of the cartoons are in some way romantic, forlornly escapist.
when I'm not drawing people i'm drawing landscapes without people or where people are not significant. this preference for the unpopulated is also found in my photographs and reflects my own anti-social personality, happier making things than meeting people, happier with desolation than depravity and corruption.