The Trenton Free Public Library and the Trenton Artists Workshop Association will present the exhibition “Art by Area Cartoonists” at the Trenton Free Public Library from July 1 to 27.
An opening reception is set for Friday, July 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. as part of the Trenton Downtown Association’s First Fridays and in recognition of the museum’s presence in the city’s Creek2Canal Trenton Arts District. An artist’s talk is scheduled for Thursday, July 7, at 6 p.m.
“Art by Area Cartoonists” features work by Greater Trenton artists who portray everyday events through cartoons and illustrations.
Participating artists include Bill Hogan and Ken Wilkie.
Hogan, based in Morrisville, PA, is the retired editorial cartoonist for the Bergen Record, where he created thousands of images for the major New Jersey daily on subjects ranging from political intrigue to fast food. He is also a fine arts painter who exhibits regularly in the Trenton area and was a member of the Trenton Artists Workshop Association.
Hogan notes the following about cartooning:
“I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, my mom and dad saw it. I eventually attended art school in New York City and majored in editorial illustration, not cartooning (no degree at that time — just a certificate upon graduating).
“(After studying and moving to Santa Fa), I freelanced weekly for the Santa Fe Reporter while painting hotel interiors. My cartoon ideas were good, but the drawings were kind of raw. At the time I thought they were ‘great.’
“I do think in images. With cartooning I see, hear, or read something that stimulates my imagination to create an idea on a surface and bring my idea to fruition through frustration and joy.
“I see it this way: If I read something, I put it in my sieve — brain — and digest it until images come to life. Then I compose the images that hopefully make some sense. Same goes for my paintings, except no narrative, just images connected in some way.”
Hogan offered “Trump As King” as an example of keeping his editorial wit in shape.
“I drew the ‘King’ in March, 2017, a month after he took office. I felt and still feel, as soon as he took office, what he wanted was to be a king-like president in all his silk and glossy satin garb and glory, powerfully parading around in the White House halls at night.
“I realized right from the beginning this guy was a charlatan entertainer who wanted all the focus and attention on him and only him. What’s better than to draw him as a king with all those colorful clothes and medals and crown? I just had to find a way of graphically expressing it. A king came to mind. The rest was gravy.”
Ken Wilkie lives in Hamilton and, in addition to being a cartoonist, is a retired teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Princeton and an occasional U.S. 1 illustrator.
With a degree in art and history from Rutgers University and additional study with nationally syndicated cartoonist Mort Gerberg at the New School in New York, Wilkie has created cartoons for numerous publications, ranging from Saturday Evening Post to Good Housekeeping.
Wilkie said the following about his approach and start:
“I can see (the cartoon) in my mind. An image just comes from something I read or heard. If a picture is worth a thousand words then it may be easier to draw the picture instead of writing 1,000 words.
“A lot of New Yorker cartoons are just illustrations to turn humorous word play into something that can be published and paid for.
“My artistic career has its roots in my grandmother’s wallpaper. We lived with her for the first five years of my life. By the time we moved, when I started kindergarten, I had added crayon or pencil marks on all the wallpaper within the reach of my five-year-old frame. My grandmother worked as a clerk in the shipping office of the local steel plant. She had tons of paper forms.
“These drawings of patterns on the paper my grandmother had around the house were portable and could be shown to neighbors, relatives, and co-workers at the plant. I began to get much more complimentary feedback. ‘He’s quite an artist! He should take lessons!’
‘This kind of acceptance and praise for my ‘God-given talents’ was a passport to socialization. This was a boost to my ego that was very valuable in those elementary school days.
“Unfortunately, my school didn’t offer art until seventh grade. Ironically, I ended up teaching elementary art for 40 years.
“I think I’m more likely to verbally summarize and create from there. Cartoons have to be very economical when it comes to captions, dialogue, and whatever other category of verbiage there might be. Cartoons are meant to just make amusing breaks in text in some magazines. Our eyes scan over it rapidly from left to right as we read in that direction.”
As an example of his work, Wilkie submitted the following note:
“The art cartoon was triggered by a very pleasant visit to the Guggenheim sometime in the late 1980s. They had a retrospective on the Impressionists. So I went to the top of their spiraling staircase as that was where the chronologically organized exhibit began and descended to the end of the exhibit on the ground floor. It was well done and very informative. Along the way there just a few clusters of visitors examining the art.
“In the hour or so I was there I noticed that I heard almost no English spoken. These probably were all tourists from Asia or Europe traveling in the summer. I thought that it would have been interesting to hear what they thought about what they were looking at. It brought to mind the old expression ‘I don’t know art but I know what I like.’ It occurred to me that we find what is familiar and understandable when we look at art.
“Somehow that triggered this insightful cartoon, where the viewers who are in solid black are looking at a solid black rectangle are saying ‘OOH’ and ‘AH!’ suggesting there is something they see of themselves or what is familiar to them. Similarly the figures full of dots at the center panel full of dots are having that reaction also. In the last panel full of horizontal lines is perplexing two figures full of vertical lines except for the final figure. He’s tilting his head to the side and sees his vertical lines are horizontal when he changes his view.”
Art by Area Cartoonists, Trenton Free Public Library, 120 Academy Street. Opens July 1 with a reception, 5 to 7 p.m., and remains on view through July 27, Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 609-392-7188.
TAWA is a Greater Trenton nonprofit organization and has a history of more than 30 years exhibiting in such venues as the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton City Museum, Artworks Trenton, Prince Street Gallery in New York City, and more.
More information on the Trenton Artists Workshop Association can be found on the organization’s Facebook page.
Bill Hogan’s ‘Trump As King.’,
