Art with an obscure message.

A cartoon about art that tackles issues and asks questions, but that does so in such oblique ways that the ‘meaning’ of the art is too obscure for the audience to appreciate or understand unless they are highly informed.
I drew this cartoon while thinking about political art. Political art can sometimes be quite obviously didactic with an element of agitprop or propaganda, which some may argue makes it superficial. At the other end of the spectrum it can be so obscure that its meaning is only apparent to the initiated.
The man in this cartoon is either initiated or is posturing in order to impress his companion. I suspect the latter.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art098

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

Art that eats people.

A cartoon showing an artwork in an art gallery in the form of a human hand that is positioned on the gallery floor so that it gives the appearance of belonging to a person who has sunk into the floor.
An observer of the artwork wants a closer view, so he decides to step across the line on the floor that separates the public from the art.
As a result he sinks into the ground and becomes part of the artwork.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art094

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

Artistic validity within the zeitgeist

A cartoon on the subject of abject art – contemporary art that has a repulsive or revolting quality and that focuses on unappealing aspects of the human body and bodily functions.

In the cartoon an artist has used a toilet roll for drawing or painting on. A visitor to the gallery is wondering what the brown medium is that he painted with.
The cartoon implies that it is human excrement or faeces, which is a typical trope of abject art.
Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art097

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

A scratch and sniff artwork – gimmickry in art.

The cartoon shows a contemporary art exhibit in an art gallery.
The exhibit is a scratch and sniff piece, meaning that if the viewer scratches it it will release an odour.
The artwork looks a bit suspect to me, so I’m not sure I’d want to smell it.
Pieces of artwork that utilise scratch and sniff technology can be fun, but in the example in this cartoon I suspect that it’s just pretentious gimmickry (as does the person in the cartoon).

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art090

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

The distracting soundtracks of video art in art galleries.

This cartoon is about the annoyance caused by the soundtracks of video art and moving image art in art galleries.
Some gallery goers like the noise level in art galleries to be kept to an absolute minimum, the better to concentrate on the art.
I’m not quite sure why curators allow soundtracks to intrude into this space. Perhaps they think that it makes the gallery space more lively and dynamic and less intimidating.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art088

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

An unusual art technique – sculpting with smoke.

The cartoon shows an artist manipulating two hand fans to nudge the smoke from a candle into different sculptural shapes.
Smoke sculpture of this type are normally very transitory and ephemeral, however the artist has got a few glass display domes that he can keep the smoke sculptures in so that they aren’t destroyed by draughts.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art087

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

Gallery goers mistaking a slaughterhouse for a contemporary art gallery.

The cartoon depicts two visitors to an art gallery admiring an artwork composed of animal carcasses hanging from hooks.
The truth is though, they aren’t in an art gallery at all – they are in a real slaughterhouse next door to an art gallery.

Original version drawn: 2012
This version drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art086

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

All art is a form of self portraiture

A cartoon about the idea that all art reveals something about the artist, therefore all art is a form of self portrait.
Part of the humour behind the cartoon is that the artist is trying to be clever by displaying a kitchen tap as a self portrait, while the woman looking at the work (who is meant to look like a normal member of the public rather than an initiate into the rarified thinking behind some contemporary art) is one step ahead of the artist in her analysis.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art082

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

The use of repulsive materials in contemporary art (sometimes known as abject art).

The conflict between the urge to be a creative artist and domestic duties.

In the cartoon an elderly woman at an art evening class is creating a sculpture of a cat out of paper mâché. This is very much a cliché or trope about art evening classes.
The tutor is suggesting that she uses other materials to create her model, perhaps spittle and pig’s offal.
This is a comment on a tendency for some practitioners of contemporary art to use viscerally revolting materials in their art.

First version drawn: 2012
This version: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art069

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

Contemporary art – is meaning more important than quality?

A cartoon concerned with judging modern art or contemporary art by its meaning and by its quality.
Because modern and contemporary art often have a cerebral dimension they are often judged by this metric rather than that of aesthetic quality or the quality of execution.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art078

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

A self-absorbed artist and his long suffering wife or partner.

The conflict between the urge to be a creative artist and domestic duties.

In the cartoon an artist is in his studio creating massive colour field paintings. His wife or partner is complaining that he really ought to get round to painting the kitchen.
Part of the joke is that applying paint to a colour field painting is not dissimilar to applying paint to kitchen walls, yet he chooses to only work on the paintings.
Artists can sometimes be perceived as being very selfish self-absorbed individuals who’s work takes priority over all other things, including domestic chores and household duties.

First version drawn: 2012
This version: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art068

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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.

But is it art?

The cartoon about the cliché phrase ‘But is it art?’
The cartoon’s use of the cliché is itself is a cliché, so it’s a cliché about a cliché.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art106

This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.

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