Art funnier than a YPU debate

It's no accident that The Body Politic: The Evolution of Political Satire in Print, a condensed exhibit on the fourth floor of the Yale University Art Gallery, has arrived in an election year. Art as a medium for satirical commentary and political activism—whether to inspire humorous sniping or outright revolution—is explored in 46 works drawn from the collections of the Art Gallery (YUAG), Yale Center for British Art, and Wesleyan University's Davison Art Center.

COURTESY YUAG 'Bicentennial Bandwagon,' by Red Grooms.

The gallery space is small, but this is no lightweight show. The pieces are rich in historical context, and extensive text panels tell each work's story. Such explanations make it easy to simply enjoy the exhibit; there's no need to draw upon one's own shaky historical knowledge or analysis to understand prints jammed with allegorical and historical implications. Traveling through this elegant exhibit also provides an all-too-brief crash course on political satire's history.

The exhibition opens with precursors of political caricature, including Niccolo Boldrini's 1545 woodcut after a design by Titian, entitled Three Monkeys Imitating the Laocoon. Here art is literally the ape of nature. The cyclic theme of art imitating life imitating art is borne out in this exhibit through varied imagery. With leaders taking on the bodies of race horses and clowns and pears, the power of these images lies in their metaphorical bite. And many of these works leave teeth marks.

Political satire is a relatively new strain of imagery which first emerged in eighteenth century England, in "the golden age of English caricature" with William Hogarth. His famous "Election Series" (1755-58), condemning partisan politics, is executed in incredible detail and filled with allegorical touches. James Gillray offers more direct ridicule of British and foreign leaders, comparing Napoleon to a street seller of gingerbread named Tiddy-Doll in an 1806 etching. Goya attacks the failed policies of inept Spanish leaders in selections from his haunting Los Caprichos etching series of 1798. Along with etchings from Goya's Disasters of War series, these works exhibit beautiful tonal contrast and figures seemingly tortured by the darkness and thick lines they emerge from.

Art

The Body Politic Yale University Art Gallery Through Nov. 26

The 19th century brought a shift in the center of political satire to France, with the great popularity of the satires of Louis Philippe as the "Pear King" by artists such as Honore Daumier and J.J. Grandville. These humorous renderings are hung next to one of the most powerful and suppressed images of Dau-mier's Rue Transon-ain, le 15 Avril 1834, depicting a bedroom strewn with the bodies of a family massacred by paranoid French troops. It is the most stunning image in the exhibit, illustrating how, beyond being clever or funny, many of these prints are simply moving.

The Body Politic moves into the 20th century with a group of broadsheets by Jose-Gualupe Posada which he sold on the streets for a centavo, mocking changes in Mexico's currency and economy. At first glance, the two Warhol Mao Tse-Tung screenprints from 1972 seem out of place in this exhibit. Unlike most of the works, they are big and splashy and in hyper color. Yet Warhol has appropriated the photo of Mao from his required "Little Red Book" of the Cultural Revolution, and transformed that image into a larger-than-life smiling icon.

Red Grooms' Bicentennial Bandwagon from 1974-75 is a busy work that both honors and mocks American principles. The United States is on display as a parade float, surrounded by curious characters such as a football player sporting an Uncle Sam beard and red platform heels. Images of American racism are also part of the mix; Native Americans are represented as drugstore Indians and African Americans, with exaggerated features, are driving the float. Fireworks and garish color explode hysterically all over the print, as if in celebration and calamity.

One only wonders if the "evolution" spoken of in the exhibit's title might extend into the 21st century and include more examples. With November drawing near, it's refreshing to visit The Body Politic and see that the juxtaposition of the weighty and the ridiculous is not just a part of our modern political climate.

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