Raw Nerve! The Political Art of Steve Brodner.

• Position: Focus on Politics - Satirical illustrator - Biography

EXPLOSIVE IS AN APT term to describe the art of Steve Brodner, whose deftly executed drawings cast a spotlight on the American political scene as it unfolds. Working on a national political stage, Brodner perhaps is the most successful, influential, and widely read of today's political illustrators. His wry humor and unique ability to conceive visual form inspired by icons of popular culture resonate through our shared societal memory. Powerful images speak to us with precision and directness, offering fresh perspectives and revealing sometimes painful truths about our world and the influential leaders of our times.

"Raw Nerve! The Political Art of Steve Brodner" draws upon a celebrated tradition of political caricature that harks back to the 18th century. Beginning with the work of English illustrator James Gilray, whose satirical art cast a critical eye on the British government and the governing classes, political illustration has served to inform, motivate, and sometimes incite the public. During the past two centuries, great cartoonists like Francisco Goya, Honor6 Daumier, and Thomas Nast have offered distinctive political and social perspectives, keeping their messages before the public through constant innovation and compelling imagery that posed significant questions about the events of their day. Like his predecessors, Brodner's political illustrations define and comment on society, challenge our ideas, and profoundly influence public opinion on a mass scale.

Brodner has been a satirical illustrator for more than 30 years. Born in 1954 in Brooklyn, N.Y., he studied art at Cooper Union, graduating in 1976. As a young artist, he entered and won first place in a major illustration competition sponsored by the Population Institute--an award presented by New York Times caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, an individual he admired greatly. Brodner cut his teeth at The Hudson Dispatch, a small newspaper in Union City, N.J., where his talent for political satire first was recognized. In 1977, The New York Times Book Review began publishing his art, and from 1979 through 1982, he produced his own journal, The New York Illustrated News. Brodner developed a distinctive style in the early 1980s, and began creating illustrations for nearly every major American periodical of the day. By the end of the decade, he emerged as one of the nation's foremost political artists, a distinction he maintains to this day. In fact, he is the New Yorker's official...