Jepson Center for the Arts welcomes Patrick Oliphant

Patrick Oliphant is coming to paint the town. Literally. As part of the exhibition of the cartoonist's work at the Jepson, opening Friday, Oliphant will create large-scale drawings on the walls of the Levitt and Varnedoe galleries.

There's some news that ought to make local politicians quake a little.

Oliphant's caustic pen has cast a revealing spotlight on the absurd and sublime in American politics since he moved from Australia in 1964 to take a job at the Denver Post. The winner of numerous international awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1967, Oliphant has been published in a broad spectrum of the nation's leading publications.

On Friday, the Jepson Center for the Arts unveils "Leadership: Oliphant Cartoons and Sculpture During the Bush Years."

"The title leadership is an intended irony," Oliphant said during a phone interview last week. "The exhibit concentrates on Bush, but it's about leadership in general, and how it's a thing that must be questioned."

The images Oliphant creates can elicit guffaws out of the lunacy of the age's political scandals -take the example of a clueless Alberto Gonzales at the helm of a bulldozer that plows down a room filled with U.S. attorneys in "Mistakes were Made" - but somber topics are also depicted in tragic tones, as in the artist's "Iraq Pieta."

"A cartoon doesn't have to be funny," Oliphant said. "There should be a seriousness reflecting the subject. When it's appropriate, it's a great vehicle for satire."

The images are stark, black and white, villains clearly depicted in the grotesque exaggeration of physical features and elongation of limbs.

A promise of justice is often present, with sinister forces from outside the natural world brimming at the edges of a scene.

An 'equal-opportunity cartoonist'

A bad year for the nation is usually a good year for a cartoonist.

"And it's been extremely good the last seven years," Oliphant said. "We haven't had such a good time since the Nixon years. In fact those seem tame."

As with any good cartoonist, you can detect which way Oliphant's politics lean in this case, said Holly McCullough, curator of fine arts and exhibitions at the Telfair Museum of Art.

"But he is respected across the board by everybody," McCullough added. "I think his work is incredibly savvy."

So are his politics, actually. In contrast to McCullough's statement, Oliphant, who dubs himself an "equal-opportunity cartoonist," said he would be "horrified at the idea of Hillary (Clinton) as president. Although as a cartoonist I should be delighted."

In an addendum to the text for the exhibit, former Republican Sen. Bob Dole calls him "central to the great tradition of American political caricature" even though he rarely agrees with Oliphant.

Finding acceptance

Oliphant said there was no culture shock in moving to and working in America.

"I visited the States in 1959, and I thought, what a great place this is. Everything is going on here." As soon as his contract in Australia was up, he took a job offer from the Denver Post.

"The audience has been very accepting of me," he said. "In Australia, they do what the British call lopping off the tall poppies. They don't like for anyone to excel too much."

In addition to his work as a cartoonist, Oliphant has also received commissions for sculpture and paintings. He enjoys creating monotypes and etchings and said he works "as the urge moves me."

As the title implies, the exhibit will also feature some of Oliphant's sculptures- and a couple of surprise pieces.

"There are a couple of people, local folks, that the artist is friendly with," McCullough said. "And he made two caricatures of local people.

"He's been wonderful about finding ways to personalize the exhibit."