chess

Chess cartoon. Each side playing with a mixture of black and white chess pieces

A cartoon about chess in which the black and white chess pieces are mixed.

In the layout of the chess board depicted the black and white chess pieces don’t occupy opposite ends of the board, but are mixed equally at each end.

The mixing of the black and white chess pieces symbolises the mixing of different types of people (not necessarily linked to race) rather than the polarising effect of each colour of piece congregating at one end.
As a result of the mixing of the pieces, with each ‘side’ in the chess game being made up of the two colours, it’s impossible for the two sides to engage in ‘battle’.

Drawn: December 2020

Cartoon reference number: a881
Bridget Riley

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.