HUMOR, SATIRE AND CARICATURE!

[Victor Pross]

Humor, Satire and caricature in visual Art: It’s a serious matter.

Caricature is a legitimate art form. This statement might seem obvious and not open to contention. However, at one time, to openly discuss caricature as an art form was considered a silly presumption worthy ridicule. In the intervening years recognition and acceptance has fertilized the soil and this unique art form is part of the cultural establishment, whatever niche the markets. Now, in a culture warmed by serious adult attention, artists can attempt new growth in a field that was formerly looked down upon as a childish indulgence. With the expansion of animated movies, television series and graphics novels, parody painters and graphic droll comic renders have come a long way. But it was a long battle.

Somewhere along the line humor in visual art has been dealt a deadly blow. Those who determine “taste” have decided it’s alright for an artist to move us to tears, anger, awe or out-and-out repulsion—but to make his audience laugh was considered beneath the artist’s station. Satirical work, like that of Daumier, can be just as provocative. Humor for humor’s sake, however, was considered lowbrow. It was barely tolerated and usually had to be couched in something that had a “moral message”---typically called satire--to justify it. The “art world guardians” have hampered development and the art world, as a whole, suffers from an intolerable snobbery. In most circles, humor—and even satire—was considered tawdry.

It was exactly this kind of thinking that has prevented caricature artists from enjoying a position a position closer to the top of the art hierarchy. Instead, they were crowned as mere “illustrators.” Not that illustration is a dishonorable profession, but the intention was to denigrate the caricature artist. Both the illustrator and caricaturists had made the unforgivable choice of painting commercially. But then, didn’t also the masters? An illustrator paints for publication, not for painting per se---and so would Leonardo had he lived long enough to see a four-color press let alone print-on-demand lithographs! The posters, book designs, music sheet decorations and magazines illustrations of Toulouse-Lautrec doesn’t seem to influence the prices his paintings demand on the auction block. As for caricature art, there are many “giants” who have painted manically morphed beings. That list would include Goya, Leonardo and Picasso.

As for my own caricature paintings, I have made it a point to master the fine art techniques of the masters to utilize the more zany offshoots of my imagination. I like to add “visual commentary” to my caricatures with drops of acidic wit. Taking my portrait of Freud as a case in point: Freud, as we may already know, developed theories of “penis envy” and “phallic symbols” and so what could be more deserving than to have the cigar chomping icon smoking a penis? It makes perfect sense to me! Affixed on Freud’s head in surreal fashion is the pop star Madonna. Freud is also known to have developed theories about the ego and the “super ego” and when it comes to Madonna, it’s all self-explanatory.

For me, humor is not an end itself. I enjoy biting satire and have sought to employ it by incorporating it in caricature art. Satirists are mockers and debunkers whose “bitterness” is a symptom rather than a disease. They have the impertinence to comment on the human condition without apology. They refuse to applaud mediocrity and stupidity and they often howl it down with glee. But the satirist’s reputation for iniquity is undeserved. They’re neither twisted nor evil at heart. They don’t hate mankind, just mankind’s excesses. And we’re here to let you know what those excesses are and, in the process, to have a good laugh at their expense.