Exhibition: cartoonists capture political landscape

‘Behind the Lines 2024’ at Pinnacles Gallery highlights political cartoons that humorously critique leaders, featuring artists Harry Bruce and Megan Herbert.

Harry Bruce is part of the Behind the Lines 2024 exhibition at Pinnacles Gallery

Some of the country’s most powerful people have these artists’ works hanging in their offices, their crooked teeth, large ears and bumpy noses amplified, their policies and public gaffes mocked.

These artworks are brutal – and politicians can’t get enough of them.

Now the artists behind these hilarious and scathing political cartoons are being celebrated at Pinnacles Gallery with the Museum of Australian Democracy’s Behind the Lines – The Year in Political Cartoons 2024 exhibition.

The exhibition brings together the country’s best political cartoons of the year as part of the Australian Government’s National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program.

The exhibition features three of North Queensland local Harry Bruce’s artworks, including his Anzac Day piece Lest We Forget, and Victoria-based political cartoonist of the year 2024 Megan Herbert has nine pieces in the exhibition, including No Guts, No Glory.

Megan Herbert has nine pieces in the exhibition, including No Guts, No Glory.

Harry has spent more than three decades crafting cartoons for North Queensland News Corp titles, while Megan has been sketching political cartoons for Nine newspapers since 2021.

If the pen is mightier than the sword and a picture is worth a thousand words, these cartoonists wield unmatched power in the political playing field through their tongue-in-cheek takes on the latest political developments.

A great cartoon, according to Harry, is “one that cuts through the political bull dust and gets to the core of the issue”.

“Politics is based on lies, exaggerations, distractions and distortions. Cartoons at their best strip all that away. Often, they do it in a way that connects more immediately with a reader than is possible in any other way,” he says.

“Generally my favourite people to draw are the politicians who are the most extreme in their views or actions. In North Queensland we have been blessed with quite a few over the years.

“George Christensen was my local member and a regular subject for over a decade. But my absolute favourite is Bob Katter who is a living breathing cartoon. He is the gift that keeps on giving.”

Megan Herbert’s No Guts No Glory cartoon

For Megan, it’s about breathing levity into heavy subjects that affect the masses.

“Political cartoons live in the ‘you gotta laugh or you’ll cry category’. The political cartoon acts like a release valve for that frustration, a chance for people to laugh or shake their head ruefully, or let off some steam,” she says.

“As a cartoonist, I also hope that politicians are paying attention to what cartoons about them are saying, as a way of gauging what the general response is to their actions.”

There’s a tightrope for political cartoonists to walk. They have to tell the truth, poke fun at the country’s leaders and keep up with a brutally fast news cycle.

But despite the pressures, both Harry and Megan say they are able to take the time to enjoy the process.

Behind The Lines – The Year in Political Cartoons 2024 is open at Pinnacles Gallery until May 11. Entry is free

“I love drawing cartoons for newspapers.

“I enjoy analysing an issue and working out a cartoon like a puzzle.

“And I really love poking fun at pollies by exaggerating their huge noses or beady eyes,” Harry says.

“Sometimes a cartoon can take hours and hours. Most of that time is the struggle to come up with an idea and give it a novel twist.

“The actual drawing part is usually pretty quick … but then there are those blessed days when the idea just comes straight away, and everything just clicks. This doesn’t happen often and it’s these cartoons that are usually the funniest.”

Megan seconds this, saying the best cartoons are the ones that arrive as a complete idea, like a gift with a bow on top.

“There is an a-ha! moment that happens, if you are lucky, when an idea arrives in your mind almost fully formed. It will either be a visual metaphor you can link to a story, or a combination of words, or a strong image, or a combination of these,” she says.

But, Megan says, it’s not just the politics that play a part in a great cartoon, it’s also a distinctive nose, or large ears, or notable hair that can make a cartoon a success.

Harry Bruce at his home studio in North Queensland

“The person I both love and loathe to draw is (Donald) Trump. Love because of how many recognisable features he possesses that can easily be caricatured and loathe because I would rather he was not in the news cycle at all,” she says.

Despite the exaggerated features and the digs at policy and press conferences, many – if not all – of the politicians own copies of the cartoons drawn by these two artists.

“George Christensen has bought dozens of cartoons, even those that are not particularly complimentary,” Harry says.

“Phillip Thompson also buys all the cartoons he is featured in. Bob Katter even sends me a Christmas card every year … Warren Entsch has phoned me personally a couple of times. He wanted to tell me of his intention to retire. He has bought so many of my cartoons over the years that he thought I might go broke without him.”

But at the end of the day, there’s one thing these two artists can’t agree on: whether politicians prefer the cartoons where they look good, or the ones where they look bad.

“I get a sneaking suspicion they only pay attention to the ones in which they are portrayed favourably,” Megan says.

“I have to stress these politicians don’t just like the flattering cartoons,” Harry says.

“In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion they enjoy the nastier ones more.”

Behind The Lines – The Year in Political Cartoons 2024 is open at Pinnacles Gallery until May 11. Entry is free. For more information: whatson.townsville.qld.gov.au

Originally published as Exhibition: cartoonists capture political landscape