Colby-Sawyer Hosts Political Cartoonist Joe Szabo for Presentation of America's Image in International Cartoons
NEW LONDON, N.H. – A Chinese cartoon depicts the United States as a huge careening skateboard crowded with body-builders, politicians, movie stars, soldiers, cowboys, protesters, hunters, hippies, a Democratic donkey and Ronald McDonald. In a Romanian cartoon, America appears as a gigantic cat, lazily unwinding a global ball of string. A towering Statue of Liberty represents our country in a Russian cartoon, with its enormous army boot-clad foot crushing a tiny globe.
These jarring caricatures are part of “Image of America,” a presentation by Joe Szabo, which features some of the world's best political cartoons. The event takes place on Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. in Clements Hall at the Curtis L. Ivey Science Center of Colby-Sawyer College. Admission is free and everyone is welcome to attend.
Szabo, an internationally renowned political cartoonist, was born in Hungary but has spent much of his career in the United States. He describes his presentations as a balance of positive and negative views of America which encourage audiences to draw their own conclusions. “I was always fascinated by the extreme images — good or bad — that have been consistently defined by people who based their opinions on very superficial personal experience and knowledge,” he says. His presentations are part of his research for a book on images of America, in which he will explore international perspectives of this country.
Szabo began his own cartooning career in 1979 as an editor for Hungary's leading newspaper, Magyar Nemzet. A year later he defected to Germany before moving to the United States in 1981. He has since served as an editor, art director and cartoonist for U.S. national newspapers and magazines and has launched a variety of print and electronic publications. Among his most popular works is “The Finest International Political Cartoons of our Time,” a book series showcasing socio-political cartoons from nearly 60 countries by many world-renowned cartoonists; among them, 14 recipients of the Pulitzer Prize.
His most widely recognizable publication, WittyWorld International Cartoon Magazine, reached 103 countries between 1987 and 1998. He continues this work through his web site, www.wittyworld.com, an internet cartoon center that features interviews with cartoonists and their work. Szabo is the recipient of 12 international awards, including an international press prize from Belgium and a lifetime achievement award from Mexico.
To learn more about Joe Szabo and his work, visit www.wittyworld.com.
Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Students learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.colby-sawyer.edu.
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