{ RIP } ~ Richard 'Dick' Bruce Cheney

 

Richard 'Dick' Bruce Cheney has died.

He served within the Nixon and Ford Administrations but reached his ultimate influence on U.S. politics as Vice President to George W. Bush. 

Graphite stick on paper Editorial Cartoon I did when George 'Dubya' Bush announced Cheney as his Vice President and titled it 'Running Mate' because many saw Cheney as the real power behind the throne and Bush as the ceremonial figurehead.  

The original was part of an exhibition held at the Cube Gallery titled 'Iconoclast' in March 2006, and featured such luminaries as Anita Kunz.  The show was reviewed by Alvina on the CBC Monday Morning Radio Show where cited my artwork.  Below is the transcripts of that review.

The Original is part of an Acquisition by the Archives of Canada.  

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ICONOCLAST an exhibition of political art at the Cube Gallery, March 2006 Curated by Don Monet Artists: Marc Adornato, Claude Latour, Mathieu Dubé, Andrew O’Malley, Tami Galili Ellis, D.H. Monet, Farouk Kaspaules, Meghan Myres, Anita Kunz, Erin Robertson, Fred Sebastian, Robert Stevenson. transcript from the Monday Morning show on CBC.. HOST: An exhibition of Political Art opened last week at the Cube Gallery. Alvina took a look at the show and spoke to some of the artists and she’s here to tell us about it all. Good Morning Alvina. When I think of Political art I think of Political cartoons in the newspapers. How does this exhibit interpret political art? ALVINA: In may ways. For example there are political cartoons. Good cartoonists not only have an acute sense of humour and are aware of political issues but they can draw well, they are illustrators... and you can see several works like that here. Fred Sebastian shows us his talents as graphic artist, as someone who can draw the human body and as a cartoonist, to exaggerate the appropriate parts of the human body. This is his first gallery showing. But there was another cartoonist in the show who caught my eye. HOST: Who was that? ALVINA: Internationally known graphic artist Anita Kunz. They have 10 of her drawings here. Her work has made the covers of big magazines like Time, the New Yorker, Maclean and Rolling Stone. And five of her drawings here are the original work. She does soft sensual colourful caricatures of big political figures in the news. She has Bush playing with his war toys in a Sand box, she has him speaking with two mouths or dressed as an oil sheik And she has Clinton morphed into a sexy Tom Cat sniffing around with his gold bling , his big cigar, gaudy rings and his cat eyes. She makes him look like a pimp. . There is Ralph Nader - the Martyr, -like Saint Sebastian punctured by pens and pencils and all sorts of other messy things in his crusade to clean up the world. BUT political caricatures are not the only form of Political art here. HOST: What else is there here? ALVINA: There are some works by Claude Latour that make powerful political statements . This artist works with photography, painting and digital manipulation. HOST: What has Latour done that is so special? ALVINA: He deals very explicitly with high profile political issues. For example He has been following the Ipperwash hearings with former Premier Mike Harris and other witnesses. And he has reproduced on the canvass, excerpts from Harris’ statements and highlighted the vulgar parts to expose the attitude of Harris in relation to Native people. The results are devastating for Harris. In one sense, this art is a form of committed journalism. It makes you angry, it gets people to act and that is probably what the artist wants. Then another tableau by Latour shows a blurred image of Dudley George with other high-lighted statements, based on transcripts by police officers ...And then, at the bottom of the painting is the insignia of the OPP with an arrow shot through it. HOST: What is the meaning of that insignia? ALVINA: These insignia are placed on coffee cups and they become trophies, like notches on a gun - indicating how many native people the police have killed. These are games that some of the OPP police were playing then . It makes your hair stand on end. HOST: These are not all caricatures then, These are both works of art and accusations of misconduct..Perhaps the artist is flirting with libel.???... ALIVNA: Possibly, but I’m sure they consulted lawyers. Latour has a lot of guts. He feels strongly about this, Latour has also responded in his own way to the famous Danish drawing, not by painting a portrait of Mohammed, but by painting the Islamic sign for Mohammed. So there is no reproduction of his human face- just the written symbol. . And he has hung a transparent veil over the painting., to symbolise distance and respect. HOST: Is that form of art acceptable for a Muslim? ALVINA: Well, just to be sure there was nothing wrong with this, they invited the Imam from the Mosque, just around the corner on Scott St. To come and have a look. HOST: And did he come? ALVINA: Yes he did. I was there and he said “no problem” but then, the Imam saw Anita Kunz nasty portraits of Bush and his reaction was, aren’t you worried that the Americans will get angry over those portraits..? I doubt that that thought even entered their mind. HOST: What else is in the Gallery? ALVINA: Yes, an artist called Marc Adornato. He has made his propaganda videos by morphing and remixing images. He has reedited Bushs State of the Union address to change it into a a Fascist rally. Hehas made another video show called the Call of Duty, using Video games (Play station II) where he redubs his own voice into the narrator of the game and has him go on a shooting rampage killing everyone. Here, the truth behind the war recruiting programmes is revealed in all its brutal honnesty because the narrator then tells those kids watching the video to join the army, because all the soldiers are dead so they need more recruits....But there is one artist who left a very strong impression on me whose work is not explicitly political. . HOST: Who was that. ALVINA: Her name is Meghan Myres. She works in oil and graphite pencil...these are figures in subdued colours..that emerge as half finished life drawing sketches against backgrounds of smudged pale colours to create an atmosphere of utter espair....but the artist can draw and she has a fine sense of colour and she echos the pain of humanity. ..Her work reminds of Betty Goodwins figures....... and there are many more. HOST: Sounds like an exciting exhibition....It’s called Iconoclast; it’s at the Cube Gallery, at Hamilton Ave North. Call 728-1750. Any more notes Alvina? ALVINA: One note. I just want to tell people to go see the new play opening this week at the University of Ottawa, Its in English, Its called Fireface by a new German playwright called Marius Von Mayenburg. It is directed by Joel Beddows who teaches in the Ottawa U. Theatre department and until now has been an award winning director working in French. This is his first staging in English. And my sixth sense tells me this is going to be good. Its at Academic Hall, from March 14 to 18. $10. Students and Seniors pay $6.oo. Starts at 8pm for info call 562-5761