Chris Madden Cartoons

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Understanding contemporary art cartoon

December 28, 2019 by chrismadden

Understanding contemporary art cartoon

Understanding contemporary art cartoon

A cartoon showing a piece of contemporary art on an art gallery wall.
It is a text piece, that reads If you think you understand it you don’t understand it.
A man looking at the artwork is saying “Of course I understand it.”

The cartoon is partly about the cliche of the over-confident man who thinks that he knows everything (especially when he’s talking to a woman). It’s also about the related subject of people posturing in their knowledge and understanding about contemporary art.
The artwork on the gallery wall is a form of conundrum or paradox.
Contemporary art often defies easy analysis because it’s beyond the normal parameters of experience. Sometimes it’s accused of deliberate and pretentious obfuscation.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art067
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art Tagged With: contemporary art

Art gallery merchandise cartoon – Kazimir Malevich black square

December 28, 2019 by chrismadden

Malovich black square cartoon

Kazimir Malevich cartoon – black square jigsaw puzzle.

A cartoon about art merchandising – the sort of novelty item you can purchase in art gallery and museum gift shops.
Art galleries and museums generate quite a lot of much needed income through merchandising and gift shops (and cafés).
Here the merchandise is a jigsaw puzzle.
It is a jigsaw of Kazimir Malevich’s seminal work of modern art Black Square.
The joke is, of course, that a black square would make for an extremely difficult jigsaw puzzle – it’s bad enough doing the skies in relatively easy ones. So the jigsaw puzzle is in some ways a work of art in its own right.

This version: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art064
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Artist’s muse cartoon

December 28, 2019 by chrismadden

Artist's muse cartoon

An artist and his muse.

A cartoon showing an artist taking a break from his creative process.
While he’s relaxing a small figure representing his muse wafts in from his studio. He tries to ignore it.

This is a cartoon about the way that the urge to create and the impulse to work can be a bit of a curse for people of a highly creative personality type. Their thought processes just never give the a break.
A cartoon about creativit and inspiration.

Cartoon first drawn: 2007
This version: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art066
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Looking at contemporary art cartoon – an optician’s eye test chart

December 28, 2019 by chrismadden

Eye test chart as art cartoon

A contemporary artwork composed of an ophthalmologist’s eye test chart.

The cartoon shows visitors to an art gallery looking at a piece of contemporary artwork that takes the form of an optician’s eye test.
They are looking intensely at the artwork in order to try to ‘read’ it in an attempt to understand its meaning. The man is saying that he understands it up to a certain point, that point being where the letters on the eye chart become too small for him to read.
The cartoon is about how to look at art. The artwork could be titled Ways of Seeing.

This version: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art062
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Surrealism cartoon

December 27, 2019 by chrismadden

Surrealism cartoon. Man Ray iron with nails (cadeau)

Modern art disrupting classical art – Man Ray’s Cadeau.

A cartoon illustrating the effect of modern art movements such as surrealism on traditional and classical art.
A man (possibly Man Ray) is slashing a traditional landscape oil painting using Man Ray’s surrealist sculpture Cadeau, a flat iron with a row of nails attached to it.

Original cartoon: 2007
This version: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art061
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.
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Filed Under: ART, Modern art Tagged With: surrealism

Rene Magritte cartoon

December 27, 2019 by chrismadden

Rene Magritte cartoon

Magritte cartoon – pastiche of Golconde.

A cartoon based on the Rene Magritte surrealist painting Golconde in which Magritte is painting a surreal image of raining men. The image seems to be imaginary, however in the cartoon Magritte can be seen to be painting the reality that is in front of him.
A cartoon about surrealism, realism, reality, imagination.

Concept: 2007
Drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art060
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art Tagged With: Magritte, surrealism

Art galleries for the Instagram generation – cartoon

December 26, 2019 by chrismadden

Celebrity culture in art cartoon

An art gallery removing classical portraits to replace them with contemporary celebrity selfies.

This cartoon is about contemporary celebrity culture, and its possible impact on art galleries and museums.
In the cartoon the portraits of historically important figures are being removed in order to make way for selfies of social media celebrities of the Instagram generation.
Part of the concept behind the cartoon is the potential debasement of culture due to commercial pressures in order to attract a new audience, on the basis that larger audiences attract more funding or income for art establishments.

Drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art059
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Contemporary art – the primacy of the concept

December 26, 2019 by chrismadden

Contemporary art cartoon – the primacy of the concept

Contemporary art cartoon – the primacy of concept over aesthetics and execution.

This cartoon is about the way that the contemporary art world sometimes regards the intellectual concept behind a work of art as being in some ways more important than the physical quality and aesthetics of the artwork. The work can sometimes only be appreciated if the concepts behind the work are understood.

Drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art058
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Jeff Koons cartoon – Balloon Dog

December 26, 2019 by chrismadden

Jeff Koons cartoon

Jeff Koons cartoon.

The cartoon shows a Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog artwork.
The balloon dog has defecated on the art gallery floor, in the form of a balloon.
I first used this idea in a cartoon set in a surreal world of balloon people and balloon animals in 2009, later transferring the concept to the Jeff Koons sculpture.

Drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art057
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art Tagged With: Jeff Koons

Contemporary art cartoon – market value

December 26, 2019 by chrismadden

Contemporary art market cartoon

Accessing the market value of contemporary art.

The cartoon shows a contemporary art dealer assessing the value of an artwork.
He is saying that if it is priced too low it may reflect badly on the work, while a high price would make the work seem like a more desirable purchase for an art collector.

Drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art054
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Contemporary art humour – pretension and snobbery in the world of art

December 24, 2019 by chrismadden

modern art humor

Pretension in the art world.

The cartoon shows a visitor to an art gallery giving the reasons why he likes a particular piece of contemporary artwork.
The main reason he likes it is because liking it makes him feel superior to people who don’t like it.
The artwork in the cartoon is a typical trope of a challenging piece of contemporary sculpture, in that it appears to be craftless, ugly and a bit revolting.
A cartoon about pretension, snobbery and elitism in the art world.

Cartoon drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art051
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Contemporary sculpture cartoon

December 23, 2019 by chrismadden

modern sculpture cartoon

Flat pack art.

The cartoon shows a person constructing a piece of sculptural artwork from a flat-pack kit.
The sculpture is in the flatpack form of furniture and fittings available in stores such as Ikea.
The sculpture is labelled as an Ikea Skulptr, in homage to the unusual spelling (to English speakers at least) of Ikea products.

Part of the joke in the cartoon is the contrast between what is often seen as the elitist and high-brow (and expensive) world of contemporary art and the mass market (and cheap) consumerism of shops such as Ikea.
Cartoon drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art050
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, In the home, Modern art

Bridget Riley

December 21, 2019 by chrismadden

Bridget Riley chess art cartoon

A cartoon showing two chess pieces admiring a Bridget Riley painting.

The Bridget Riley painting resembles a chess board, hence the chess pieces identify with it.

The painting is in the black and white op art style that Riley employed in the 1960s when pop art was a major genre in the contemporary art world. I believe that Riley didn’t like being labelled a pop artist, so she probably didn’t like being labelled an op artist either.

Original cartoon drawn: 2012
This version: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art028
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art Tagged With: chess

Contemporary sculpture cartoon

December 21, 2019 by chrismadden

Contemporary sculpture cartoon

A cartoon showing a contemporary sculpture.

The sculpture is titled Bogey Man.
It is composed of plaster, glue and bogeys.

The cartoon is about the way that some contemporary art is deliberately disgusting or repulsive.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art027
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

The art market – art as a financial investment cartoon

December 21, 2019 by chrismadden

Modern art market cartoon

A cartoon about the investment in art.

The cartoon shows an investor studying the art market and buying and selling works of art on the basis of their financial value rather than their artistic value.

The caption reads: Sell Abstract Expressionism. Buy Concrete Conceptualism.
I made up the genre of concrete conceptualism, it being an oxymoron.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art022
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Business, ECONOMY, Modern art

Art in the environment cartoon

December 21, 2019 by chrismadden

Modern art in nature cartoon

A modern art sculpture set in a natural setting.

The cartoon shows a modern art sculpture, similar to the work of Barbara Hepworth or Henry Moore, set in the environment. A bird is nesting in the hole in the sculpture.

The sculpture is titled Art in Nature.
.
Cartoon drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art021
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: Animals (wild or pets), ART, Birds, Modern art

Art that children like – cartoon

December 21, 2019 by chrismadden

Contemporary art and art for children cartoon

A cartoon about art that children like – such as paintings of ponies.

The cartoon shows a young girl visiting an art gallery and asking if there are any paintings of ponies.
The art gallery is a gallery of contemporary art, and thus contains little or no work that would appeal to children.

The cartoon is partly about the different purposes of art and the different audiences for art.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art019
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ANIMALS, ART, Modern art

The emperor’s new clothes – contemporary art cartoon

December 21, 2019 by chrismadden

Contemporary art - emperor's new clothes cartoon

The emperor’s new clothes – contemporary art cartoon.

The cartoon shows visitors to an art gallery admiring a contemporary work of ark that features a blank canvas.
The artwork is called the Emperor’s new clothes.
The visitors are admiring the detail in the work (even though there’s nothing there).

The cartoon is a comment on the way that people sometimes put on a front to appear to understand concepts and ideas in order to avoid being thought of as stupid or out of touch.

Original version drawn: 2006
This version drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art018
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Seeking artistic inspiration cartoon – the blank canvas

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Contemporary art blank canvas cartoon

The blank canvas.

This cartoon uses the contemporary art trope of a blank canvas as a finished work of art.

Original cartoon drawn: 2006
This version: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art031
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art Tagged With: Christo

Understanding contemporary art – cartoon

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Understanding contemporary art – cartoon

A cartoon about contemporary art that’s difficult to understand.

The cartoon features someone who pretends to understand a piece of contemporary art that has a deliberately obscure meaning, when in fact he doesn’t.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art029
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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cartoon copyright matters

Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Salvador Dali surreal lobster telephone cartoon

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Salvador Dali surreal lobster telephone cartoon

Surrealism cartoon – Salvador Dali lobster telephone and shrimp cell phone

Cartoon showing Salvador Dali’s surrealist telephone, along with a mobile phone that he may have imagined if they had existed then.

Original cartoon drawn: 2010
This version drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art013
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Computers and phones, Modern art Tagged With: surrealism

Entertainment in art galleries cartoon

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Entertainment in an art gallery cartoon

A cartoon about the rise in entertainment-related installations in art galleries.

Over recent years I’ve visited various art galleries where some of the exhibits have resembled fun fair or playground structures.
Examples are the helter-skelter slides and swings that have been installed in Tate Modern at various times.
This cartoon features fun fair dodgems.

Cartoon drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art039
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Artist’s self-portrait about mortality cartoon

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Artist's self-portrait cartoon

Artist’s self-portrait cartoon

Cartoon showing an artist’s final self-portrait.

The self-portrait is the artist’s cremated ashes.
It’s an artwork about mortality.

Cartoon drawn: 2018

Cartoon reference number: art011
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Cubism cartoon

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Modern art cartoon – cubism

Cubism cartoon.

A private view in a contemporary art gallery.
One of the quests is introduced as a cubist He’s a cube.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art036
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Art as a bid for immortality

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Art as a bid for immortality cartoon

A cartoon about creating art as a bid for immortality

The cartoon shows an artist working on a painting.
He is saying “While I’m alive I like to think of my work living on when I’m dead, but when I’m dead I probably won’t care one way or the other.”

The cartoon is about the way that people are often motivated in their lives to do things due to the awareness of their own mortality, and the paradox that once they have died they won’t care.
It is interesting to speculate on how much of human activity is motivated by this urge, and what position the human race would be in if we didn’t have the urge.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art014
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art, Philosophy Cartoons

Art snob cartoon

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Art snob cartoon

Cartoon showing an art snob looking in distain at some people he judges as less cultured.

A cartoon about elitism in the arts and the snobbery of artistic and aesthetic taste.

Drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art008
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art

Mondrian cartoon

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Mondrian cartoon

A cartoon of a man looking at a map that shows the location of a museum dedicated to the art of Piet Mondrian.

The map is in the form of a Mondrian painting.

Original cartoon drawn: 2006
This version: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art032
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art Tagged With: Mondrian

Environmental art cartoon – biodegradable art

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Environmental art cartoon – biodegradable art

An environmental art cartoon, showing a piece of contemporary artwork that is 100% biodegradable.

Because the sculpture depicted in the cartoon is biodegradable it will have a limited lifespan that will make it unappealing to art collectors (never mind art conservators).

A cartoon about the art market, art conservation, environmentalism, transient art, gallerists.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art035
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, ENVIRONMENT, Modern art, Other environment cartoons

Art gallery exhibit – cartoon – what is your greatest wish?

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

Audience participation art cartoon

Cartoon about art that asks people questions.

A cartoon about audience participation art installations.

The cartoon is set inside an art gallery, showing an installation in which the participant has to write down their greatest wish.
A cartoon about art predicting the future of society and the world and about the fulfilment of people’s desires and wishes.

Drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art005
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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Filed Under: ART, Modern art, Philosophy Cartoons

Pop art cartoon – Bridget Riley style op art painting

December 20, 2019 by chrismadden

op art cartoon - Bridget Riley barcode

A Pop Art cartoon, showing a black and white striped canvas in the style of Bridget Riley.

The painting is of a product bar code.
The idea is that although the canvas looks like a piece of abstract art it is in fact a painting of a real object as represented by its bar code.

The cartoon is partly a comment on the digitisation of the physical world.
A cartoon about pop art, op art, modern art, Bridget Riley, digitization, artistic representation.

Original cartoon drawn: 2012
This version: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art033
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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cartoon copyright matters

Filed Under: ART, Modern art

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