Chris Madden Cartoons

A searchable archive for licensing

Woke ‘useful idiots’

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woke allies and fellow travellers cartoon

A cartoon about woke fellow travellers.

The cartoon’s caption reads:
“Did you know that there’s a name for the well-meaning people who, in a misguided attempt to be tolerant and respectful, promote the authoritarian and censorious ambitions of the woke movement?
Sleepwokers.

A pun on the word sleepwalkers.
The term useful idiot refers to naive followers of a political cause who aren’t fully aware of the harmful nature of the cause. It is often associated with the followers of communism the mid twentieth century.
Drawn: December 2022
Cartoon reference number: a930

Ban humour!

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woke humor ban cartoon

A cartoon about censorship and proscriptions on humour.

The cartoon reflects an aspect of the “hate speech” laws (which state that anything that may cause offence is prohibited).
Humour by its very nature frequently sets up a tension that may be misinterpreted by the more earnest and humourless amongst us (he says, patronisingly), opening it up to be a target for censorship.

A cartoon about censorship, censoriousness, woke earnestness.
Drawn: September 2022
Cartoon reference number: a999

How to obtain license to use cartoon

Child drawing – art education cartoon

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children's drawings cartoon

Art education cartoon

A cartoon showing a child drawing.

The child is drawing very well, but the teacher is encouraging her to draw in a more childish way. A cartoon about the holding back of talent.
First version drawn: 2006
Cartoon reference number: a155b

Oil painting portrait ‘cut-to-fit’

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cut-down oil painting cartoon

Cutting a painting to fit a space.

A cartoon showing a large oil painting that has been cut down in size to fit into a room.

The oil painting in the cartoon is a grand portrait, cut down so that only the head is mounted on the wall.
Cartoon drawn: 2016
Cartoon reference number: a928

Bowdlerisation cartoon

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bowdlerisation cartoon

Bowdlerisation cartoon

A cartoon about bowdlerisation – the rewriting of text to remove material that is considered offensive or objectionable, especially when directed at children.

Bowdlerisation is named after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare.
Cartoon drawn: Jan 2012
Cartoon reference number: a927

‘Is it art?’ cartoon

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is it art cartoon

‘Is it art?’ cartoon

A cartoon about the debate concerning what constitutes or defines art.

The cartoon uses an image that is generally accepted to definitely be art as a way of questioning the question itself.
First version drawn: 2006
Cartoon reference number: a727

Infinite regression in art

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Sculpture cartoon - self portrait in infinite regression

A cartoon showing an artist creating a self portrait.
The self portrait sculpture looks exactly like the artist.
The cartoon is partly about the self-obsession of (some) artists and about the introspection of artists and the self-referential nature of art.

Part of the joke in the cartoon is that not only is the sculptor carving a statue, but the the sculpture (the self portrait) is also working on a self portrait too (that is just protruding into the right hand side of the cartoon).
It is a cartoon about infinite regression, where the artist is creating a self portrait that is creating a self portrait… and so on.

Cartoon reference number: a158c

Filed Under: ART

A Christmas gardening gift…

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Christmas gift gardening cartoon book

A Funny Year in the Garden
Gardening cartoon book

If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift for a gardener, this may be it!

The book contains about a hundred of my black and white gardening cartoons, most of which have been published in newspapers and magazines from Private Eye to the Irish Sunday Independent (where I had a weekly slot in the gardening pages for fifteen years or more).
The book is available through Amazon.
Such as at:
Amazon UK
Amazon USA

Frieze contemporary art fair

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Frieze contemporary art fair cartoon

Frieze art fair cartoon

A cartoon about the Frieze contemporary art fair.

Frieze art fairs are held in Los Angeles, New York, Seoul and London (where I live). They display cutting edge contemporary art. Sometimes the visitors are as interesting as the art. I’m a regular visitor myself, but not one of the interesting ones.
Drawn: October 2022
Cartoon reference number: a926

Recycling cartoon

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recycling cartoon

Recycling cartoon

A cartoon featuring the earth in a waste skip as though it is being thrown away in a similar way that the normal items of consumer waste are thrown away in skips.

Skips are often used for builders’ rubble and the waste material when a house is being refitted or modified. The house can be thought of as a metaphor for the planet on which we and all other life lives.
Drawn: September 2022
Cartoon reference number: a924

Investment bankers’ remuneration cartoon

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banker's salaries and bonuses cartoon

Investment bankers’ bonuses and pay

Investment banking humour

Cartoon showing a banking job interview.

The interviewer is asking “What is it that attracts you to a career in investment banking?”
A joke about the bonus culture in banking and the ethics of banking

Cartoon drawn: 2013
Cartoon reference number: a312c

Summer gardening cartoon

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hot summer gardening cartoon

Cartoon about gardening on a hot summer day

Showing a gardener relaxing in the garden rather than doing any gardening tasks.

The gardener is sunbathing on a garden lounger and is thinking “There’s an old saying – if it’s hot enough for shorts it’s too hot for gardening”.
A joke about outdoor activities, garden furniture, summer, sunshine.
Cartoon reference number: a208a

See my book of gardening cartoons here.

Metaworld – the first use of the term? (1985)

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Metaverse, Metaworld, graphic novel

Metaworld – the first use of the term?

The talk about the invention of the Metaverse in 2021 reminded me that in about 1985 I developed a graphic novel with the title Metaworld.
I didn’t finish the project, although the plot did reach a second draft and several dozen of the pages were drawn to a reasonable level. They are all hidden away in the attic, and at the moment all I can find is this sketch of one of the pages, featuring one of the inhabitants of Metaworld.

 

This may be a very early use of the term ‘Meta’ to describe a world (Metaworld) or a universe (Metaverse). When I thought it up computer technology as we know it was in its infancy. I think I was using one of the first Macs at the time. The pages of Metaworld were drawn with pencil and paper.

Drawn: about 1985

Homeopathy side effects cartoon

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homeopathy side effects cartoon
homeopathy side effects cartoon

A cartoon about the side effects of homeopathic medicine.

The cartoon’s caption is:
“One of the great things about homeopathy is that because the remedies don’t actually do anything there’s no need to worry about nasty side effects.”.
Drawn: 2009
Cartoon reference number: a923

Covid-19 masks cartoon

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covid mask cartoon the Lone Stranger
covid mask cartoon the Lone Stranger

Coronavirus mask cartoon.

A person asking “Who was that masked man?”
He was the Lone Stranger.
Based on the phrase at the end of episodes of the 1950s tv show The Lone Ranger.

Drawn: February 2021
Cartoon reference number: a919

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Covid anti-vaxxer cartoon

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covid-19 anti-vaxxer cartoon

Covid-19 coronavirus anti-vaxxer cartoon.

An anti-vaxxer cartoon with the title Jabber wacky, after the Lewis Caroll nonsense poem Jabberwocky in Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Drawn: February 2021
Cartoon reference number: a918

Covid-19 herd immunity cartoon

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covid-19 natural remedies herd immunity cartoon
covid-19 natural remedies herd immunity cartoon

Covid-19 coronavirus herd immunity cartoon.

A person taking a natural herbal remedy as a cure for the Covid-19 coronavirus.
He is trying to achieve herb immunity.

Drawn: February 2021
Cartoon reference number: a917

Dictatorship or tyranny cartoon

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Dictator or tyrant cartoon

Human rights cartoon.

A cartoon about oppressive regimes, dictatorships or tyrannies.

The cartoon shows a person in a prison cage with a dictator or tyrant sitting on top of the cage
A cartoon about human rights, freedom, oppression, repressive regimes, dictatorship.
Drawn: 2017
Cartoon reference number: a909

Human rights cartoon – imprisoned artists

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Prisoner of conscience cartoon

Human rights cartoon.

This cartoon was drawn for an exhibition of cartoons about the treatment of dissident artists and cartoonists who live in countries that are governed by oppressive regimes.

The cartoon shows a cartoonist or artist drawing an image on the outside wall of a prison cell of a person escaping from the cell.
A cartoon about human rights, freedom of expression, free speech, repressive regimes, dictatorship.
Drawn: 2017
Cartoon reference number: a915

Human rights cartoon

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Freedom of speech cartoon

Human rights cartoon – freedom of speech.

This cartoon was drawn for an exhibition of cartoons about the treatment of dissident cartoonists who live in countries that are governed by oppressive regimes.

The cartoon shows a cartoonist drawing a cartoon on the outside wall of a prison cell. The cartoon bears the message “Free speech”
A cartoon about human rights, freedom of speech, free speech, repressive regimes, dictatorship.
Drawn: 2017
Cartoon reference number: a916

Dr Seuss racism allegation

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Dr Seuss racism allegation cartoon

A cartoon about the news that several Dr Seuss books are to be withdrawn due to claims of racism.

Dr Seuss Enterprises has decided that it will cease publication of six Dr Seuss books in order “to ensure Dr Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families”.

A 2019 study, The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’s Children’s Books, stated that “white supremacy is seen through the centring of whiteness and white characters, who comprise 98 per cent of all characters”.
Drawn: March2 2021
Cartoon reference number: a906

Only watched the news once a day – cartoon

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Only watch the news once a day cartoon

Only watch the news once a day cartoon

A cartoon from a series featuring a life coach and lifestyle advisor called Mrs Walton.
In the cartoon she is advising someone that they shouldn’t follow the news all day long.

Limiting how much time you spend following the news can be seen as a good thing partly because obsessively keeping up with every change in events is ultimately a waste of time which stops you doing other things and partly because the news is so depressing.
Drawn: 2012
Cartoon reference number: a905

Physical activity v. mental activity

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Well read physically lazy person cartoon

Well-read mind cartoon

A cartoon from a series featuring a life coach and lifestyle advisor called Mrs Walton.
In the cartoon she is cautioning someone that “A well-read mind is a sign of a lazy body.”

The cartoon is partly about the cultural divide between physical and mental activity, and the various attitudes of superiority that are generated by both.
Drawn: 2012
Cartoon reference number: a904

Crossing bridges cartoon

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Crossing bridges cartoon

Crossing bridges cartoon

A cartoon from a series of ‘wellness’ cartoons featuring a life coach and spiritual advisor called Mrs Walton.
In this cartoon she is advising someone that “Just because there is a bridge it doesn’t mean that you have to cross it.”.

The cartoon is about the way that people’s lives and attitudes are channeled in particular directions by the structures imposed by their societies.
A cartoon about life coaches and lifestyle advice.
Drawn: 2012
Cartoon reference number: a903

Confirmation bias cartoon

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Confirmation bias cartoon

Confirmation bias cartoon

A cartoon from a series featuring a life coach and lifestyle advisor called Mrs Walton.
In the cartoon she. is advising someone to “Never believe anyone who you agree with.”

The cartoon is about the fact that people tend to seek out opinions that agree with their own, thus reinforcing rather than questioning their own opinions, a phenomenon called confirmation bias.
Drawn: 2012
Cartoon reference number: a902

Marriage advice cartoon

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Marriage advice cartoon

Marriage advice

A cartoon from a series of ‘wellness’ cartoons featuring a life coach and spiritual advisor called Mrs Walton.
The cartoon features marriage advice to young men. The type of young men that I’ve depicted is deliberate. Interprete it as you wish.
The life coach is saying “Never marry a woman whoitmore attractive than Scarlett Johansson or less attractive than Lily James”.

A cartoon about life coaches, lifestyle advice, marriage advice, therapy, relationship advice.
Drawn: 2012
Cartoon reference number: a901

Shame on you – woke shaming cartoon

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Shame on you - woke shaming cartoon

Woke shaming cartoon

A cartoon about the tendency among some of the woke to attempt to humiliate and belittle those who think differently to them by ‘shaming’ them. The process of shaming is a convenient way to dismiss other points of view without engaging with it, and of dismissing the person whose view it is.

A cartoon about wokeness, tolerance, intolerence, shaming, shame culture. Published in the Critic magazine, June 2021.
Drawn: October 2020
Cartoon reference number: a900

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