Showing posts with label political cartoons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label political cartoons. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Meet a Local Book Designer: A Chat with Barbara Sutliff

by Mike Rhode

Barbara Sutliff is a book and magazine designer and art director  who recently worked on an editorial cartoon book for the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC). On a tip from her husband, cartoonist Joe Sutliff, Barbara and I got together for an informal email interview.

I heard that local editorial cartoonist Matt Wueker was doing a book for a Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum exhibit in Columbus, OH? They have an editorial cartoon show that's only up for another month. Is that what it's for?

Yes it is based on the show, the AAEC has their conference there this coming weekend. The AAEC will have the book for sale. It was a very small print run for the conference, and the association plans to show it to some of the large book publishers that will be there in hopes of interesting them in publishing it on a larger scale, perhaps even an expanded version.

What's the title, and who's the author?

The title is Front Lines: Political Cartooning and the Battle for Freedom of Speech by The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. This is similar to the title of the exhibition, which was Front Line: Editorial Cartoonists and the First Amendment.


The editor of the book is Matt Wuerker, award winning political cartoonist from Politico and former president of the AAEC, and a friend of ours (Joe and I).
Back and front covers
How did you get involved? What did you do for them?

Matt saw Joe at an event and mentioned the project and asked whether I might be interested in designing the book. We talked and I was very excited to work on such a fun and important project. Matt was terrific to work with. After hearing his ideas for the look of the book, we talked  back and forth as I showed different options for the chapter design treatments, Once chosen, it was a really smooth collaboration—Matt was just finishing up getting the essays edited and finalized, while collecting hi-res versions of the many cartoons that he was organizing to go with each chapter/essay. 

Liz Donnelly drawing and table of contents
In the meantime I roughed out the book to get a firmer idea on page count for each chapter and for the overall book, including many cartoons chosen to go with each chapter. As I have designed and produced hundreds of publications over the years—this project was a great fit—Matt and I had a smooth back and forth with emails including pdfs of pages with notes attached with my questions, suggestions as well as his corrections, answers and suggestions. We also had periodic phone calls to go over the status chapter by chapter. I worked in InDesign and sent pdf proofs which as I mentioned, we added electronic sticky notes to for specific questions and to provide me with credit info for each piece etc. When everything was approved I made hi-res print quality pdfs for the printer. Matt already had this idea in mind for the cover—he provided my with his mockup in InDesign which I tweaked (I am a stickler when it comes to kerning and typography and Matt was thrilled with that attention to detail on my part!) It was a great experience, I loved designing and producing the book. Matt just told me he is putting a printed copy in the mail for me and I am so glad to hear that he is very happy with the printed edition.


How many images are in the book? Is everything from the exhibit in it? Was there anything tricky or difficult about the layout?

Pillars by Jimmy Margulies. August 16, 2018 from the exhibit

.

I counted 100 cartoons in the book not counting Matt’s cover cartoon. It also has essays by Joel Pett, Lucy Caswell, Roslyn Mazer, Rob Rogers, Ann Telnaes and Matt. 

I didn’t know whether the book included everything from the exhibit, since I didn't see the show, but Matt says, "No....  And many of the cartoons in the book are not in the show. It's by no means a catalog of the show.  We just used that as a jumping off point.”

The tricky thing for me was incorporating many horizontal cartoons into the design without having the option of going across the gutter of a perfect bound book like I might when designing with photographs, which can have impact across a spread—but obviously that doesn’t work with cartoons with words. I created a grid with an appropriate width for type, on a square page which allowed for a narrow outside column to be used for pull quotes and to have the flexibility to use the full width including the narrow column for cartoons to jut out beyond the type column. It works as many of the cartoons are horizontal and allows for variety in the design of each spread with varying sized art along with the text and pull quotes drawing the reader to important ideas from the chapter and that act as design elements on the page as well. I guess the other tricky thing that comes to mind is that the chapters were mostly cartoons with an essay flowing through them as opposed to a text-heavy book punctuated by spot illustrations. So the challenge was to keep the continuity of the words flowing around the cartoons which meant jumping the words around a spread or two of just art so that the cartoons and words complemented one another.

Barbara Sutliff is available for full-time or freelance work. Contact her via https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarasutliff/


Friday, September 06, 2019

Exhibit Review: 100 Years of Cartoons in El Universal: Mexico-United States As Seen By Mexican Cartoonists.

by Mike Rhode

100 Years of Cartoons in El Universal: Mexico-United States As Seen By Mexican Cartoonists. Augustin Sánchez González. Washington, DC: Mexican Cultural Institute, September 4 – October 30, 2019.  https://www.instituteofmexicodc.org/

El Universal was Mexico’s first modern newspaper, according to the exhibit, and on its first day of publication in October 1916, the first thing readers would see was group caricature of the men writing the new Mexican constitution. The exhibit commemorates both the 50th anniversary of editor Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, and the 100th anniversary of the newspaper.

Sánchez González organized the bilingual exhibit into five sections. The first deals with the establishment of the newspaper with its early cartoonists Andrés Audiffred and Hugo Thilgmann, as well as comic strips influenced by American strips. Two original strips by Audiffred and two caricatures by Thilgmann are highlights of this section, which also includes two sheets of the original comics section of the paper, as well as reproductions of front pages with cartoons. This section is supplemented with a video of the curator discussing the exhibit. 



The second section is on the influence of the American cartoon and comic strip. A reproduction of a newspaper page by Guillermo “Cas” Castillo of comic strip characters such as the Katzenjammer Kids and Mutt and Jeff with caricatures of Charlie Chaplin is displayed with large reproduction drawings by Juan Terrazas of Cas’ drawings of the characters. Terrazas is the director of the Museum of Caricature which was a major contributor of pieces to the exhibit. This room is by far the weakest part of the show. In spite of the curator’s comments about fame of the characters during the exhibit opening, the comic strips are too far removed from the current audience’s experience to be recognizable. Only students of the form recognize the 100-year old characters today. A local connection to the exhibit venue is seen in Rogelio Naranjo’s self-caricature of as a young dandy holding the Washington Post with a headline announcing his arrival in D.C., but the placement of the piece in this section is odd, and probably just is an artifact of the layout of the rooms.


The third part concentrates on caricature of American presidents, and the fourth on Uncle Sam and U.S. politics. These and the next section are by far the strongest part of the exhibit with original artwork by masters such as Antonio Arias Bernal, Ruis, Naranjo and Helioflores featured. It can be interesting and instructive to look at caricatures by artists who are not natives of the country, because they tend not to use the same tropes or exaggerated features as a local cartoonist might. Bernal’s drawing of Eisenhower is clearly recognizable, but Ruis’ cartoon of John F. Kennedy makes him look more like Superman’s Jimmy Olsen, and Efren’s caricature of Reagan does not seem accurate at all. Audiffred is still working for the newspaper at this time, and has a nice heavy ink line displayed in his drawing of Vice President Richard Nixon. Naranjo’s drawing of Jimmy Carter is firmly in the large-headed David Levine-influenced style, but with two men hanging on barbed wire behind Carter, is probably harsher than what would have appeared in an American publication. One of the pieces that resonates today is Helioflores drawing of Richard Nixon as a tree with multiple cuts in its trunk and titled, “¿Caerá? (Will it Fall?).” Although there are two good caricatures of Trump in this section, the Nixon drawing feels timely.




 The section on Uncle Sam’s best piece is “Cáscaras (Banana Peel Fall)” by Bernal, showing Uncle Sam slipping on a United Fruit Company banana peel. This section however, reveals the problem of the lack of dates in the captions as the viewer will not necessarily be aware of the events that prompted the cartoon. An exception of course is Altamrino’s odd untitled drawing of Uncle Sam missing two front teeth after September 11, 2001. Kemchs’ “Alambrada (Barbed Wire), a color print of Trump’s name as barbed wire is a clever piece even if it does not feature Uncle Sam.




 
The exhibit closes with a section on masters of Mexican cartooning. Without needing to hew closely to a theme, this section is the strongest part of the exhibit. Excellent examples by all the previously named cartoonists are featured along with others by Omar, PIT, Carilla, and Dzib. 


Overall the exhibit is an interesting and educational introduction to one particular niche in Mexican cartooning. Additional photographs can be seen at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGJtK1B. The exhibition is open Monday – Saturday on 16th St NW, and includes a free booklet. The historic mansion that holds the exhibit is available for a guided tour as well, and features striking murals by Roberto Cueva del Río of Mexican history up the three levels of the main staircase. I believe there is an accompanying book and will provide additional details if I can confirm that.


(This review was written for the International Journal of Comic Art 21:2, but this version appears on both the IJOCA and ComicsDC websites on September 6, 2019, while the exhibit is still open for viewing.)

Wednesday, May 08, 2019

Mark Fiore wins the 2019 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award editorial cartoon category

From their press release on May 3rd:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 3, 2019 – Today, in celebration of World Press Freedom Day, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights has announced the winners of its 2019 Robert F. Kennedy Book & Journalism Awards. The author of the winning book selection and first place winners in 13 categories - including high school and college print and broadcast, international and domestic print and photography, new media, cartoon and more - will all be honored at a ceremony on Thursday, May 23 at 6:30 pm at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Historian, author and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ Book Award Chair Michael Beschloss will serve as master of ceremonies joining the organization’s President Kerry Kennedy and Journalism Award Chair, playwright and author Margaret Engel in presenting the awards.  The full list of winners for each category is included below.

Professional and student journalist winners of the 2019 Journalism Awards chronicled topics including firsthand accounts of asylum seekers as part of a migrant caravan, the horrors of human trafficking, sex abuse, and gang life, the war in Yemen, and much more.  Their fearless exploration of controversial topics comes at a time of continued attacks on the press by the current administration in the US and abroad. The 2019 Book Award will be awarded to author Shane Bauer for his book American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment (Penguin Press) exploring the horrors of for-profit prisons, which he witnessed as an undercover corrections officer.

....

2019 Journalism Award winners were selected from a pool of over 300 applicants in thirteen categories which are reviewed by professionals from across the media landscape.  The Book Award was chosen from a field of nearly 100 applicants. Judges for the award included historian and author Ted Widmer; Georgetown University Law Professor and author, Peter Edelman; and Harvard University Law Professor, Annette Gordon Reed.

Please see below for a complete list of this year’s winners & RSVP to our May 23rd Event: 

“Family Separation in Cartoons”
KQED News and online news outlets
Mark Fiore

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award's Editorial Cartoon winners 2020-1983


Harvested from Wikipedia and the AAEC's website, here are the past winners.

2020: J.D. Crowe, "J.D. Crowe 2019 work," Alabama Media Group

2019: Mark Fiore

2018: Ruben Bolling, "Tom the Dancing Bug" Syndicated by Andrews McMeel Syndication

2017: Mike Thompson, "The Flint Water Scandal," Detroit Free Press

2016: Angelo Lopez, "Editorial Cartoons," Philippines Today

2015: Darrin Bell, "Darrin Bell 2014 Editorial Cartoons," The Washington Post Writers Group

2014: David Horsey, "Portfolio by David Horsey," Los Angeles Times

2013: Jen Sorensen, self-syndicated

2012: Stephanie McMillan, "The Beginning of the American Fall and Code Green" South Florida Sun-Sentinel

2011: Gary Varvel, "The Path to Hope" The Indianapolis Star

2010: Bill Day, Series of cartoons, United Feature Syndicate

2009: Jack Ohman, The Oregonian

2008: Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News

2007: Clay Bennett, Christian Science Monitor

2006: John Backderf, "The City"

2005: Mark Fiore

2004: John Sherffius

2003: Dan Perkins ("Tom Tomorrow"), "This Modern World"

2002: Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News

2001: Matt Davies,The Journal News

2000: Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate

1999: Joel Pett, Lexington Herald Leader

1998: Dan Perkins ("Tom Tomorrow"), "This Modern World"

1997: Doug Marlette, Newsday

1996: Walt Handelsman, Times Picayune

1995: Ted Rall, Chronicle Features

1994: Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Constitution

1993: Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times

1992: Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times

1991: Wiley Miller, San Fransisco Examiner

1990: Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News

1988: Don Wright, Miami News

1987: Sam Rawls, Atlanta Constitution

1986: Bill Day, Detroit Free Press

1985: Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times

1984: Doug Marlette, Charlotte Observer

1983: Don Wright, Miami News

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Review: Black and White / Thoughts in Cartoon by Mohammad Sabaaneh


by Mike Rhode

Black and White / Thoughts in Cartoon by Mohammad Sabaaneh, Washington, DC: Jerusalem Fund Gallery Al-Quds. November 17 – December 15, 2018. https://www.thejerusalemfund.org/21159/november-cartoons

Mohammad Sabaaneh is a self-taught Palestinian cartoonist, who, like all good editorial cartoonists, often finds himself in trouble with both the Israeli and the Palestinian governments. Notwithstanding the need to teach art, and the regular seizure of his artwork when he returns from travelling (and thus he says he only carries reproductions personally), Sabaaneh has been able to compile a book, White and Black: Political Cartoons from Palestine (JustWorldBooks, 2017; $20). While touring the East Coast for this publication, he stopped in Washington to introduce a small exhibit of his linocut art.

Malcolm
Linocut is a negative printing process made by using sharp tools to engrave a piece of linoleum, and then inking it, and pressing it into paper. Sabaaneh was taught the technique by World War 3 Illustrated’s Seth Tobocman in New York. He took the gravers back with him to Palestine, found linoleum from a hospital’s floors, and found a substitute for the ink that was unavailable at home, and began making art. In his artist's statement, he wrote, “When I do linocut, I feel like I am giving a gift to myself! It is so exciting when you carve the linoleum, then cover it with the ink, then press it… and just waiting to find the result. No-one around you understands what exactly you are doing. I feel that I am creating a version of myself as well as creating art. The amount of wet black ink on the paper reflects me, and reflects the world around us. My daily political cartoon is influenced by the linocut technique and I like the results. Linocut is also one of the most important techniques for producing political posters.”


The Weight of Occupation
The exhibit consists of fewer than twenty pieces hung around hallways in a small office area, some of which seemed thematically out of place such as “Malcolm” which is a portrait of the 1960s black American activist Malcolm X. Others are what one expects from a cartoonist who refuses to collaborate with those he considers occupiers, to the extent of turning down exhibits with Israeli cartoonists in Europe. “The Dictator’s Melody” in which a uniformed man conducts an orchestra as bombs fall behind them, or “The Weight of Occupation” which shows a bald man carrying a slab engraved with tanks and bombs, fit into Sabaaneh’s main concern – freedom for Palestine. However, he notes, “I think as a Palestinian cartoonist I should not rely on my topic. Yes, Palestine is one of the most important topics around the world, and that has helped me to spread my art all around the world. But as an artist I believe that my art should consist not just of a strong message, but it also should be good art.”

The Dictator’s Melody

I found the strongest pieces in the show to be two pieces, “Resisting settler colonialism everywhere” and “She carries remembered worlds,” each depicting generic Palestinian people, a man and a woman, with their bodies fading into buildings. Both evoke a strong sense of place and purpose, more so than “Can you chain a heart?”, an image of a heart wrapped in chain. The exhibit also contains a long “History of Palestine Frieze” which is about five feet long and shows a history of the occupation via cartoon figures. Sabaaneh says he plans to do more large-scale works like this, and has recently completed one on the subject of women.

She carries remembered worlds

Resisting settler colonialism everywhere
 
Can you chain a heart?
At the exhibit opening, Cartoonist Rights Network International’s Bro Russell interviewed Sabaaneh, who then also took questions. (The Fund has said that a transcript will be soon made available on their website). The audience was made up of students and people already familiar with the Palestinian cause, which Sabaaneh says actually works against him, because most of the people who come to see him at a talk or an exhibit are already convinced and do not need to argue with him or his work. For those not familiar with his work, the exhibit and the book are a good introduction to a world where political cartoonists still matter enough to be regularly threatened with more than job loss.


History of Palestine Frieze segment


(This review was written for the International Journal of Comic Art 20:2, but this version appears on both the IJOCA and ComicsDC websites on November 18, 2018, while the exhibit is still open for viewing.)

Flashback to Nikahang Kowsar's 2003 cartoons

I ran into Nik Kowsar yesterday. Nik was a cartoonist in Iran who eventually had to seek asylum in Canada and then the US. He lives around DC now, and doesn't do as much cartooning as he did, but he still helps other cartoonists via the CRNI. He sent along a few cartoons he'd done for sharing here.
 





 
The Bush ones were drawn for Iranian media right after the invasion of Iraq in  March and April of 2003. I was still working as a cartoonist in Tehran. I fled Iran on June 25th, 2003 for Canada.

I strongly believed that the whole campaign for finding Weapons of Mass Destruction was a scam and Cheney and his gang wouldn't be able to pin point even one rocket.

The 2 Saddam cartoons were drawn after his arrest near a village, north of Baghdad in December 2003. I was living in Toronto at the time.

Monday, November 05, 2018

Meet John Darrin: A Chat About His Anti-Trump Cartoon Book

by Mike Rhode

Early this fall, some of my friends among local political cartoonists started telling me that they had a piece in a new book. Author John Darrin commissioned over a score of cartoonists to illustrate Who's That Man with Mr. Lincoln, Mommy? A Parent's Guide to the Trump Presidency. Darrin himself is from Frederick, MD, and local cartoonists in the book are Steve Artley, Barbara Dale, Al Goodwyn, Clay Jones and Joe Sutliff (see the bottom of this post for his list of all the contributors).

Darrin's website describes his book thusly:

Who’s That Man With Mr. Lincoln, Mommy? is a political parody intended to discredit the Trump Administration in a simple, compelling, and entertaining way. Set as a walking tour of the Mall in Washington, DC, two young parents and their children play the alphabet game to explain why President Trump is the greatest. The children unwittingly expose their parent’s absurd explanations with common sense. Interlaced with penetrating editorial cartoons from award-winning artists, this no-holds-barred tale takes us on a journey through the deception and hypocrisy of the Trump White House.

The slim volume (there are only 24 letters in the alphabet after all) features a page of text with an illustration and his imaginary family discussing a word that has gained prominence (or notoriety) due to the Trump administration. The facing page reproduces a political cartoon and a brief biography of the cartoonist.

Darrin was kind enough to send me a copy to preview and answer some questions for ComicsDC.

You're normally a novelist? Why did you decide to write a children's book parody?

Yes, I am a novelist, and also some business-based non-fiction. A parody of a children's book allowed me to present the pro-Trump arguments in the shortest and simplest form and have them rebutted not by partisanship and ideology, but by simple common sense and honest questions.

And why have it illustrated by cartoonists?

Steve Artley's drawing from the Lincoln Memorial
I believe editorial cartoons are the most compelling way to instantly communicate complex ideas. And the weakness of a children's book format for an adult is the monotony of the presentation. Letting different cartoonists not only do their cartoons, but also illustrate the story meant that each page brought fresh and interesting imagery. A surprise with each page turn.

How did you find them?

 Lots of research and queries. Lists like Pulitzer and Herblock prize winners, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, and different cartoon syndicators. Then lots of correspondence to sell the concept.

Did anyone turn you down?
Yes, lots of rejections. It turns out these guys are not sitting around waiting for someone like me to contact them, but actually have jobs and commitments. Who knew? The ones who accepted generally were excited by the concept and the chance to work with the other cartoonists.

You selected various terms for the cartoonists to choose from - how did you come up with them? 

I made a comprehensive list of words that would apply to Trump's administration (page 62 of the book) and picked the ones that I felt were most important. For example. using pussy or Putin as the "P" word was an obvious choice. But I wanted this to be a catalog of Trump's failings and Puerto Rico was no longer on people's minds. With the daily barrage of lunacy, it is easy to forget earlier offenses to the American legacy. Several of my choices were changed by the cartoonist to fit their interests, such as Ingrid Rice, a Canadian cartoonist, choosing NAFTA over narcissism.

Did you write the script first, and give each appropriate page to the cartoonist after they selected a term?

Yes, the story was drafted and then the cartoonists drew to the subject and narrative.

Unlike many cartoon books about DC, the scenery among the monuments is largely accurate even though not everyone is a local cartoonist. Did you provide pictures or art direction?

I mapped out the walking tour of the family and used Google street view to get screenshots of each location and gave them to the cartoonists. That way the story followed a consistent path.

How are you selling and/or distributing this?
Joe Sutliff's drawing of the Trump Hotel (aka the Old Post Office)

The book is available on our website and on Amazon. We have been trying to get it placed in retail stores, but we don't have a wholesaler so we'll continue to work on that.


There are two sequels planned: Who's That Man Scolding Mr. Trump, Mommy?, and Who's That Man Looking So Sad, Mommy?, about the Mueller investigation and the mid-term results, respectively.


Nick Anderson, Pat Bagley, Darrin Bell, Randy Bish, Stuart Carlson, Jeff Danziger, Ed Hall, Phil Hands, Joe Heller, Clay Jones, Keith Knight, Jimmy  Margulies, Robert Matson, Rick McKee, Joel Pett, Ted Rall, Igrid Rice, Jen Sorenson, Rob Tornoe and Monte Wolverton appear in addition to local cartoonists Steve Artley, Barbara Dale, Al Goodwyn, Clay Jones and Joe Sutliff.




Thursday, July 19, 2018

Rob Roger's political cartoon exhibit opens at GW's Corcoran

Rob Rogers
by Mike Rhode


I was able to briefly stop by last night as Rob Rogers made a few short remarks about an exhibit of his cartoons, including 10 original pen and ink drawings and the companion colored prints critical of Trump that a Pittsburgh newspaper refused to print before they fired him. Also included are prints of sketches that they turned down before they became completed cartoons. Rogers' contentious relationship with the papers new editor has been written about extensively and soon after he was fired, GW announced they would exhibit his cartoonist directly across the street from the White House complex (information from their press release follows the images). The exhibit is sponsored by GWU and the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. AAEC president Pat Bagley and Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes contributed to the text of the exhibit.

The sold-out event drew local cartoonists Mike Jenkins, Joe Sutliff, Carolyn Belefski, Politico's Matt Wuerker, and Al Goodwyn a freelance cartoonists who appears locally in the Washington Examiner, in addition to Library of Congress curator Martha Kennedy (whose exhibit on women cartoonists is on display at the Library), and the Washington Post's Michael Cavna.

More photos can be seen here.
 





Incomplete sketch rejected by newspaper

Cavna, Goodwyn, Jenkins, Belefski

Belefski, Sutliff and Wuerker

Sutliff, Wuerker and Kennedy

 
Bagley's statement




 'Spiked: The Unpublished Political Cartoons of Rob Rogers' Opens at the GW Corcoran School of the Arts and Design

Editorial cartoonist was dismissed from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after facing censorship of his cartoons


WASHINGTON (July 18, 2018)-The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at the George
Washington University opened "Spiked: The Unpublished Political Cartoons of Rob Rogers"
today. This pop-up exhibition in the atrium gallery of the Corcoran School's historic Flagg
Building features 10 finished cartoons and eight sketches that went unpublished by Rob Rogers'
employer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, between March 6 and June 3, 2018.

Mr. Rogers served as the editorial cartoonist for the Post-Gazette for 25 years, until his firing in
June 2018. Prior to his dismissal, the newspaper refused to publish a series of cartoons
produced over three months.

"I believe the role of a newspaper is to be a watchdog, keeping democracy safe from tyrants. I
hope that visitors to the exhibit get a sense of the important role satire plays in a democracy and
how dangerous it is when the government launches attacks on a free press," Mr. Rogers said. "I
am excited to have my original cartoons on display at the Corcoran. The fact that these are
cartoons about the president and now they will be on shown a few blocks from the White House,
that is pretty incredible!"

The Corcoran strives to promote diversity of thought and experience, address critical social
issues and educate the next generation of creative cultural leaders.

"Mr. Rogers' work has tremendous educational value to our students by speaking to the skills of
technical virtuosity, iteration, perseverance and creative methodologies on how to critique
power," Sanjit Sethi, the director of the Corcoran said. "His work also becomes a powerful point
of departure for this community to speak with each other about issues around censorship,
freedom of the press, journalistic and creative integrity and the consequences of hypernationalism to a democracy."

The Corcoran organized "Spiked" in conjunction with University of Pittsburgh's University Art
Gallery and in collaboration with the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
"Freedom of speech is more than words. It's pictures, too," Pat Bagley, president of the
association, said. "This exhibit draws attention to Rob Rogers, a popular voice at the Post Gazette
for 25 years. It points to what people in power do to people who draw funny pictures of
the powerful and why that is an important measure of a free and open society."

In addition to the exhibition this summer, the Corcoran will host a series of conversations this fall
regarding issues around censorship, freedom of the press, journalistic integrity and the consequences of nationalism to a democracy, in collaboration with both the Association of
American Editorial Cartoonists and GW's School for Media and Public Affairs.