Chris Madden Cartoons

A searchable archive for licensing

Banksy exhibition

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Banksy exhibition Just Stop Oil protest - cartoon

Banksy exhibition disrupted by Just Stop Oil protester – cartoon.

The cartoon shows a Just Stop Oil protester disrupting the Banksy exhibition in the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow.

The Banksy exhibition is titled Cut and Run. 18 June – 28 Aug 2023.
Drawn: July 2023
Cartoon reference number: a949

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Nicola Sturgeon resigns

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Nicola Sturgeon resigns - cartoon

Nicola Sturgeon resigns as leader of the SNP”.

The cartoon shows that this may be the death of the possibility of Scottish independence.

There is no clear candidate to replace Sturgeon who would be capable of leading the Scottish National Party towards its aim of achieving independence from the UK.
Drawn: 15th February 2023
Cartoon reference number: a941

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“On the right side of history” cartoon

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Right side of history - Taliban cartoon

A cartoon about the expression “On the right side of history”.

The cartoon hopefully points out the nonsense of the expression along with its preposterous self-regard by applying it to the Taliban, who I’m sure think that they are right.

In fact, beware those who have the over-confidecnceof thinking that they are “on the right side of history”!
Drawn: 27th December 2022
Cartoon reference number: a940

Art gallery repatriation cartoon

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Museum repatriation cartoon

A cartoon about repatriation and reparation by art galleries and museums.

A cartoon concerning the return of works and items from the collections of museums and art galleries that are now judged by some to have been obtained by inappropriate means.

The cartoon is about the fact that the definition of ‘inappropriate means’ can be widened until it encompasses almost all transactions.
Currently it is chiefly applied to works that fall into the decolonisation category.
Drawn: 24th December 2022
Cartoon reference number: a939

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Unconscious prejudice cartoon

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Unconscious racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia cartoon

A cartoon about unconscious racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia.

The cartoon shows a social gathering at which a person is wearing a T-shirt with the message:
“I’m one the lookout for unconscious racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia”.
Everyone at the gathering is giving a wide berth to the T-shirt wearer.
As a result the T-shirt wearer is seeing the other people as racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic.

One of the points of the cartoon is that if you look for something you may see it even of it isn’t there, especially if you are observing through the filter of ideology.
Another point of the cartoon is the divisive nature of excessive ideological zeal – in this case the way that the people at the gathering shy away from interacting with the T-shirt wearer for fear of being over-scrutinised.
Drawn: 8th January 2023
Cartoon reference number: a935

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Empowered by ideology – cartoon

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Empowered by ideology cartoon

A cartoon showing political activists or protesters who feel empowered and motivated by their ideology.

The cartoon is a comment on the way that people who hold ideological beliefs feel a sense of empowerment, motivation and identity (If you’ve ever been on a protest march you’ll know the feeling).

This can have the downside of blinding them to alternative ways of seeing the world.
Drawn: 28th December 2022
Cartoon reference number: a933

Return the Elgin Marbles – cartoon

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Return the Elgin Marbles (Parthenon Sculptures) cartoon

A cartoon about the campaign to return the Elgin Marbles, or Parthenon Sculptures, to Greece.

It’s argued that the Elgin Marbles or Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Greece because of the much debated manner in which they were removed from Greece by Lord Elgin.

This cartoon points out that the Parthenon sculptures were created in the first place by a civilisation that was heavily reliant on slaves.
In the current political climate there have been many statues linked to slavery that have been pulled down.
The comment about returning the sculptures to the bottom of the Aegean is a reference to the throwing of a statue of Sir Edward Colton in to the sea in Bristol here in the UK
Drawn: 8th January 2023
Cartoon reference number: a934

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Art gallery self-censorship

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Art gallery self-censorship cartoon

A cartoon showing an art gallery removing ‘inappropriate’ art from its displays.

The cartoon comments on the way that in recent years art galleries have started to display works on an ever decreasing number of subjects and by an increasingly narrow range of types of artist (although in the past there were definitely too many works created by other types of artist).

The currently preferred themes for works are those associated with the social justice, or woke, movement – predominantly race, slavery, gender and sexuality.
The cartoon depicts the way in which artworks that are interpreted as going against the ethos of the social justice movement are being removed from galleries.
Drawn: 1st October 2020
Cartoon reference number: a932

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

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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

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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Missing Donald Trump outrage cartoon

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Missing Donald Trump outrage cartoon

Politics isn’t the same without Donald Trump

Although it’s generally agreed that the defeat of Donald Trump in the US elections was a good thing, his outrageous behaviour as president was a perversely energising occurrence during the doldrums of the Covid-19 restrictions.

Drawn: January 2021
Cartoon reference number: a897

Commercial branding and political activism

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CND logo branding cartoon

Branding cartoon

This cartoon was drawn at a time when political and social causes were in decline and individualism and consumerism were on the ascendant. It shows a teenage girl (who is very concerned about fashion and branding) asking her mother (who in her youth was a social activist) which brand the CND logo represents, as the girl doesn’t recognise it as the symbol of a campaign group.

Now (2021) there is a resurgence in social and political activism, however some of the campaigns are deliberately adopted by commercial organisations to boost their profile in the social concern stakes. A typical example is the commercialisation of Gay Pride.
Drawn: 2003
Cartoon reference number: env0027a

Critical Race Theory cartoon – crt applied to a snowman

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Critical Race Theory cartoon

Critical Race Theory cartoon.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) applied to a snowman.

A person is asking why the snowman is white.  One of the points of the cartoon is that once a social theory has been formulated (any theory, not just crt) it is often used to interpret matters to which it does not apply.
Drawn: December 2020
Cartoon reference number: a886

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Cartoon predicts riot on Capitol Hill

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US Trump Biden election 2020 ballot box fire cartoon

Trump encourages riot on Capitol Hill.

This cartoon was drawn on 4th November 2020, to express concern about the possible direction of the US presidential election, with specific concern about the way that Trump was encouraging his supporters.

Drawn: 4th November 2020
Cartoon reference number: a859

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Fishing quotas after Brexit

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Brexit fishing quotas cartoon

A cartoon about the fishing quotas following Brexit.

The cartoon shows a UK fishing boat and seagulls that are trying to take some of the fish.

 
Drawn: December 2020
Cartoon reference number: a885

Contested election result cartoon – Trump-Biden US election 2020

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US Trump Biden election 2020 ballot box fire cartoon

Contested US presidential election result cartoon.

The count in the Trump–Biden presidential election 2020 is under way, and it’s looking incendiary, hopefully not literally.
Hopefully there won’t be any violence due to overheated demonstrations by the more fanatical factions involved, although Trump hinted at unrest on the streets.

Drawn: 4th November 2020
Cartoon reference number: a859

Trump v Biden US election 2020 cartoon – predicting explosive consequences

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US Trump Biden election ballot box cartoon

US presidential election 2020 cartoon.

This cartoon was drawn in September 2020 with the following commentary: The Trump–Biden presidential election in November may turn out to be an explosive affair (hopefully not literally).
With luck it will only be Trump’s personality that’s explosive, however a close result may cause fireworks, and hopefully there won’t be any violence due to overheated demonstrations by the more fanatical factions of the left wing or right wing movements that are evident in the run up.

 
Drawn: September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a848

Who is right and who is wrong?

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Right and wrong thinking people cartoon

Who is right and who is wrong? Cartoon.

The term “right-thinking people” is used by people who think that they are right, or more accurately, that other people are wrong.

A cartoon about the delusion of moral certainly and political certainty.
Drawn: September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a853

QAnon cartoon

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QAnon cartoon

QAnon cartoon.

QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory grouping that is currently gaining followers, possibly due to the influence of the US presidency of Donald Trump.

Followers of QAnon believe in a wide number of far-fetched conspiracy theories, which seem to be growing all the time.
Hence the punchline of this cartoon: “Join the Q!”
Drawn: September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a847

Hate crime cartoon or hate speech cartoon

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hate crime cartoon

Hate crime cartoon or hate speech cartoon.

In the UK there is a law protecting five groups of people, such as ethnic minorities or gay people, from crimes that may be linked to hatred of their group. The government is thinking of extending the definition to include more groups, such as women and old people.
The concept of hate crimes sounds a bit Orwellian to me, but if there is such a law I don’t see why it can’t just include everyone.

There’s also an argument that the entire hate crime rationale is flawed (other than by its Orwellian overtones) and that no-one should be protected in this specific way – is beating up a gay man because he’s gay a worse crime than beating up a straight man because of his accent (which nearly happened to me once)? Now you’ve got to guess what sort of accent I’ve got without seeming prejudiced.
Drawn: 23rd September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a846

Covid cartoon – the ‘Rule of Six’ social distancing

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covid-19 social distancing cartoon

The UK government has stated that people must not congregate in groups larger than six – the ‘rule of six’.

In an attempt to stop the cover-19 virus spreading more due to lax adherence to social distancing rules the UK government has introduced a new rule to prevent large groups of people meeting up.

The cartoon depicts the characters from the famous Hollywood Western film the Magnificent Seven adhering to the new rule.
Drawn: 10th September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a844

Ethnic diversity cartoon

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ethnic diversity cartoon

Diversity and inclusion cartoon.

The cartoon shows a lecture about the desirability of ethnic diversity. Almost the whole audience is white.

The inspiration for this cartoon came from the phrase that performers at some events use when describing the audience as ‘a sea of white faces’.
Of course the audience at some events may be predominantly white because that reflects the ethnic mix of the locality or because of the differing interests of different ethnic and cultural groups, however sometimes it is a result of issues around discrimination concerning opportunities and access, as is implied in this cartoon.
A cartoon about race, racism, bame issues, discrimination, unconscious discrimination, cultural discrimination, racial bias.
Drawn: 8th Sept 2020
Cartoon reference number: a843

Cartoon – what art is offensive?

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Offensive art cartoon

To what extent should art galleries reflect contemporary concerns?

A cartoon about changing the exhibits in art galleries and museums to reflect contemporary society and to avoid offence.

It’s quite common in art galleries that exhibit contemporary art for the art to reflect contemporary concerns (or at least the contemporary concerns that concern the art world).
This cartoon shows a historical artwork being judged by contemporary mores (or rather, the mores of a particular sector of society that embraces ‘woke’ values).
Drawn: August 2020
Cartoon reference number: a841

Donald Trump schoolboy cartoon

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Donald Trump schoolboy cartoon

The danger of the expression “You can be whoever you want to be”.

The cartoon shows Donald Trump in his school days listening to the expression. Maybe getting a few ideas.

In the USA the aspirational expression that anyone can become president of the United States has proved to be true, unfortunately.

Drawn: August 2020
Cartoon reference number: a840