By Alex Owens

Downtown exhibition features presidential candidates through the years

Since it’s an election year, some of San Diego State’s faculty and students are hoping lovers of cartoons and politics check out its newest exhibit at its Downtown gallery.

Starting June 23, the SDSU Downtown Gallery — located at 725 W. Broadway and managed by the university’s School of Art and Design — will be devoted to a new exhibit, “Party Lines: The History, Art, and Politics of Editorial Cartoons.”

The exhibition focuses on political cartoons made during presidential years from today, back to the early part of the 20th century.

The candidates being caricatured differ depending on the year, but some things remain the same, according to Chantal Paul, the gallery’s program coordinator.

“There are some cartoons from the 1980s where they are talking about equal pay for women,” Paul pointed out. “Also, it’s amazing how certain tropes reappear, such as the metaphor of auto mechanics in broken-down cars.”

Political cartoons actually predate the comic strip, having existed for a few hundred years, while the first official comic strip, “The Yellow Kid,” only dates back to the 1890s.

“Political cartoons actually date back to the 18th and 19th century. They were a way of communicating to people who couldn’t read,” she said.

The exhibition will feature 50 framed pieces, as well as additional pieces by contributing artists. Many of the artists featured are Pulitzer Prize winners, such as Patrick Oliphant, Herb Block, Jeff MacNelly and Steve Breen, the editorial cartoonist of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“Cartoons have this tremendous power to simplify an issue and crystalize its essence into a quick read,” Breen said. “There’s so much noise out there in the form of social media, talking heads on TV, etc. I think there’s always going to be a market for the quiet power of a cleanly drawn, thoughtful cartoon.”

Patrons will not only see how cartoonists covered the campaigns of presidents like John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, but also their opponents, many of whom may be obscure to those who weren’t alive during those election years.

In addition, there is a section of the exhibit dedicated to current candidates Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz, an SDSU alum most famous for his syndicated strip “La Cucaracha,” has studied the three pols long and hard looking for those details that allow him to shorthand each candidate’s appearance so it can be satirized.

“Hillary Clinton has to have the right amount of nose over the rest of her features and the hair is hard to nail sometimes. A big solid-colored pant suit is a must,” Alcaraz said. “Bernie Sanders is frowning — scowling almost — and haphazardly coiffed.

“Of course, Trump is all about the hair, the hair has become a living, breathing character,” he said. “Right now I’m into making his face bright orange and highlighting his squinty eyes with white lines.”

Because political cartoonists make their living ripping politicians to shreds, they are sometimes caught between trying to decide which candidate will do the best job and which one will provide the best material.”

That’s how this year is for Alcaraz.

“Torn in half is exactly how I feel,” he said. “The most colorful candidate in this cycle could turn out to be the biggest disaster for the U.S.”

The SDSU Downtown Gallery is open daily between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., but there will be an opening reception on June 23 from 6 to 8 p.m., which Alcaraz will be attending.

In addition, the gallery will be open till 8 p.m. on July 21 and August 18, as part of the monthly Downtown at Sundown celebrations.

The exhibition will run through Sept. 4, but Alcaraz hopes its impact lasts a little longer.

“I’m happy that people will come see the cartoons in this political season, but I wish the public at large would pay attention to politics all year round, like us nerd political cartoonists have to,” he said. “The world would be a better place.”

SDSU’s School of Art and Design manages a total of five galleries and its Downtown Gallery is the only one located off-campus in a metro area. In addition to art exhibitions, the space also features lectures, poetry readings, symposia and other interdisciplinary events.

To learn more about the SDSU Downtown Gallery, visit tinyurl.com/jmxwjcr.

Artwork information: 

Top image: Matt Wuerker, Bernie’s Food Truck, 2016; ink and watercolor on paper; courtesy of the artist and Politico; © Matt Wuerker

Second image: Jeff MacNelly, Untitled, March 3 , 1979; Archival print from original (ink and photographic wash on Graphix DuoShade photosensitive paper); 12 x 18 inches; courtesy of Susan MacNelly © ; Jeff MacNelly Archive (ED790315) and Philip Rosemond curator; collection of The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

—Alex Owens is a San Diego-based freelance writer. He can be reached at [email protected].