I always enjoy a look at
the creative process of the artist
Village Voice Rules in general:
George Bush isn't so much a person or a president as he is a marketing campaign--an extremely well crafted marketing campaign designed to sell us every drop of snake oil that could benefit the agendas of his mega-rich backers.
Over the last seven years, I've been determined to create an alternative to Karl Rove's insidious branding. For inspiration, I've looked back to the way cartoonists depicted Richard Nixon, studying the greats: Herblock, Pat Oliphant, Ralph Steadman, Edward Sorel, and more. The key to Nixon's downfall was the turning of the tide of public opinion, and I believe caricature had a serious role in this. For example, if you look at the history of the covers of Time magazine, nowhere is the president more consistently represented in caricature as during the Nixon era.
So here's a look at how my Bush has evolved over time. My objective is not to create an actual likeness of Bush per se, but rather a graphic representation of how I feel about him. With two and a half years left, I can only guess how he'll look by the time he finally retires or (let's hope) is booted from office.--Ward Sutton