Category — UK cartoon events

Golf’s man of the moment Rory McIlroy added a unique cartoon memory to his recent US Open victory. You can find the classic handover of artwork photograph in this story from The Sun.

© Andy Davey cartoon for The Sun

Bloghorn hat tips PCO cartoonist Andy Davey.

Parts of the Government Art Collection are on show together in public for the first time, at the Whitechapel Gallery, London. And it seems some cartoons have snuck in by the back door.

It’s free to get in — which is only fair as we taxpayers effectively own all the artworks on show – so I went along to see it. All the works have been selected by political figures, including Nick Clegg, Peter Mandelson, and the Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, who chose the work above, Michael Landy’s Compulsory Obsolescence (click to enlarge).

This caught my eye as it features a strip from Viz comic, as well as other cartoons and some humorous writing. There are letters, faxes and other paraphernalia, all of which are reactions to Landy’s most famous work: Break Down, which saw him destroy everything he owns in 2001.

Now, we’ve been here before, with “proper artists” appropriating the work of cartoonists, as well as posh galleries showing us what they think is funny. But this is a bit different.

Crucially, this is not a collage. Nor is it a print of a collage. In fact, the whole thing is a meticulous pen and ink drawing on a very big piece of paper (70cm by 99cm). That in itself made it quite impressive, as well as making me fear for Landy’s sanity as it must have taken an age to create.

The Viz strip, a two-page “The Critics” story which mercilessly takes the mickey out of Landy, is, of course, very funny. But what’s also funny is the thought of the victim of the strip slavishly copying it out. I found that oddly moving, like the ultimate expression of British people being willing to laugh at themselves!

Unlike the anonymous cartoonists appropriated by the likes of the painter Roy Lichtenstein, the creator of “The Critics”, John Fardell, is credited, as are others featured in the work. I found it a fascinating piece and could have spent a lot longer poring over its details.

As a footnote, although they’re not in this show, the Government Art Collection does include cartoons, such as this one, right, by Vicky. Government art buyers: you need look no further …

Bloghorn offers congratulation to PCO member Clive Collins who has been appointed an MBE.

Bloghorn cartoon - Ronnie Barker © Clive Collins

‘‘… and once again we have interruption of play caused by movement behind the bowler’s arm.’’

Wit and Wisden: A Celebration of Cricket opens at the Chris Beetles Gallery in London tomorrow (June 1).

It features more than 200 paintings and cartoons from the past 200 years celebrating the clunk of leather on willow. Visitors can expect work by Glen Baxter, Tony Husband, John Jensen, Larry, Ed McLachlan, above, Matt, Nick Newman and many others.

Andrew ‘‘Freddie’’ Flintoff will officially open the show, which begins just days before the Sri Lankan Test Match at Lords. It runs until June 18 and will be unaffected by rain.

More details at the Chris Beetles Gallery website.

Oxygen was in short supply at the Cartoon Museum last night, such were the numbers that turned up for the opening of the latest exhibition, Bell Époque, but it didn’t stop people laughing.

It’s hardly surprising that you would hear snorts of laughter, as this is a show celebrating more than 30 years of the cartoons of Steve Bell.

The Big Man stepped up on to the seating area plinth-type thing – specially reinforced, the chairman of the Cartoon Museum, Oliver Preston, joked – to make a speech.

He graciously attributed his success to a range of cartoonists – from Ronald Searle to Leo Baxendale, Wally “Trog” Fawkes to Kipper Williams – not forgetting to mention his wife, and the ideas he gets when the couple shout angrily at the radio together, berating those political upstarts who dare to lead us.

Gracious: Steve Bell makes his speech Photo by Simon Ellinas

Bell is one of the leading political cartoonists of our age, but it was interesting to see through this exhibition that it took him a while to arrive at his famous depictions of leading villains such as Major and Blair. One pre-Guardian image of Thatcher, from Time Out, is almost complimentary.

Also on show are notebooks, early strips from kids’ comics, a new cartoon featuring Monsieur L’Artiste as a brothel voyeur watching Thatcher et al prostitute themselves, and a plank carved into the image of John Major. Major Plank, of course.

What else can we say about this exhibition, other than, Go see! It’s the blockbuster cartoon exhibition of the year and runs until July 24. More details at the Cartoon Museum website.

In the meantime here is an article about the show by Steve Bell, with accompanying video piece:

”You must discover the character behind the face”

Plus a Bell Époque picture gallery

Sometimes a cartoonist becomes inextricably likned with a particular topic and for Gerard Hoffnung it was music.

A tuba player himself, Hoffnung (1925-1959) made music the central subject of his work. He was born in Berlin, but Hoffnung’s family moved to London to escape the Nazis in 1939. Though he died only 20 years later, aged 34, he managed to establish himself as a cartoonist with a very English sense of humour.

That humour can be seen in touring exhibition of his work, drawn from the Hoffnung family’s own collection, which is coming to the Chris Beetles Gallery in London. It features many of his best-known musical cartoons.

The gallery will be displaying it alongside the work of William Heath Robinson, in an exhibition called Instruments and Inventions. The exhibition opens on May 25 and runs until June 22. For more details, visit the Chris Beetles Gallery website.

Two prominent political cartoonists have exhibitions opening in London in the next couple of weeks. On Wednesday 25 May, Bell Époque, featuring the cartoons of Steve Bell opens at the Cartoon Museum. The exhibition, which celebrates 30 years of Guardian cartoonist Steve’s work runs until 24 July.

Not to be outdone, on Monday 30 May Rogues’ Gallery, opens at Westminster Reference Library. Featuring the classical art parodies of the Independent‘s Dave Brown the exhibition runs until 18 June. Dave will also be giving an illustrated talk, titled ‘Mimicking the Masters’ on Tuesday 7 June, 7pm. To book a free place, email rblack1@westminster.gov.uk or phone 020 7641 5250.

Bell Époque, Cartoon Gallery, 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HH, 25 May to 24 July. For opening times and admission prices, go to cartoonmuseum.org.

Rogues Gallery, Westminster Reference Library, 35 St Martin’s Street, London WC2H 7HP, 30 May to 18 June.  Free entry. Opening hours: Monday – Friday 10am to 8pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm.

The Readers Digest stall, manned by Cartoon Editor Steve Way, with some of the winning captions*. Photo copyright and courtesy of PCO member Ger Whyman.

A new addition to this years recent Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival was the presence of a team from the magazine Reader’s Digest. From a stall in the town’s Square, the focus of many of the festival’s activities, the Reader’s Digest team engaged members of the public to try their hand at a popular Digest competition, Beat the Cartoonist.

Thankfully, this didn’t involve any physical violence towards the assembled cartoonists, as entrants were asked to provide their own captions to a series of cartoons from the magazine. With prizes that included the signed and framed original artwork, £100, subscription to the magazine and a goody bag, this was unsurprisingly a successful event, as there were more than 1,000 entries over the course of the weekend.

Bloghorn‘s own Royston Robertson was one of the cartoonists who had a drawing used in the contest. He said: “It was great to hear that people responded to the contest in such great numbers. More proof, as if it was needed, that people love cartoons, and a great interactive element for the festival.”

The Digest also hosted a free talk and advice session at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn, titled ‘What makes a good cartoon?’ Cartoon editor Steve Way and design director Martin Colyer, along with the magazine’s editor Gill Hudson, talked a packed room through the submission process and discussed some of the factors that may influence their decision to accept or reject a particular cartoon.

The Digest team took questions from the floor and ran through some of the cartoons that have recently appeared in the magazine, after which there was an opportunity for aspiring cartoonists to show their portfolios and receive targeted advice.

*For those of you squinting to read the winning captions in the photo above, they read as follows (l-r): “Shouldn’t we be squeezing the silly banker instead of stretching him?” – Pete Yearsley; “I told you not to get this sat nav from the 99p store!” – Luke Grint, 11 yrs; “If we find the sixpence we can hire a sunshade too” – Janet Bell. The cartoons are by Simon Meyrick-Jones, Paul Wood and Royston Robertson.

Thanks to Rob Murray and Ger Whyman for help in writing this post.

Shrewsbury festival cartoonist Bill Stott writes:

Amongst all the frenetic cartooning activity at Shrewsbury – the Big Boards, the caricaturing, strolling players in costume, the music, the wonderful weather and the public throng, two tiny incidents serve to underline the public’s liking for good cartoons.

One involved a tiny chap called Pacey who stood with his mum watching me paint my Big Board. Pacey was about five, I’d guess. I’d heard his mum saying things like, ‘‘No, you can’t help.’’ Pacey was undeterred and you could tell he was fascinated as the picture took form. So I asked him if he’d like to write his name on it.

Without hesitation, he wrote, very slowly, with a huge felt tip, ‘‘Pacey’’, all wobbly, in the bottom right hand corner. He was delighted and returned several times to make sure I hadn’t covered it up. Later I found, stuffed in my paint bag, a drawing by him, of his mum and a huge cat. All together – ‘‘Aaaah!’’

Photograph ©Ian Ellery

Later in the day, whilst doing reverse caricaturing – an esoteric activity involving the subject sticking their head through a hole in a big piece of paper and telling the cartoonist how they would like to be portrayed – another short type called Harry, even tinier than Pacey, got a bit tearful when I started to pack up in order to begin another activity. He’d waited with his mum for ages, been pushed in front of by a huge nine-year-old girl and looked very crestfallen. So I hurried things up and got him sorted.

Anyway, he was absolutely delighted with his picture (a footballer), which, when rolled up, was taller than him. So, while adult crowd members were being enthusiastic about all the surrounding huge cartoons and brilliant caricatures, and proving what cartoonists know is true – people love cartoons – so do little people. Quite possibly more so. Publishers take note. Real drawing for real people.

You can catch up with the news from Bloghorn at Shrewsbury 2011 here.

The PCO’s unofficial official photographer, Gerard Whyman, has put together a short YouTube film that shows the development of the Big Boards at the 2011 Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival.

The time-lapse film is a fascinating watch, as it shows the different approaches taken by the cartoonists to the daunting task of filling a 6ft by 8ft board with something funny.