David Brown 'Still Life with Brexit (after Juan Sanchez Cotan)', Independent 2019

I came across this piece during my visit to the Cartoon Museum in London. I immediately recognised it, not from the painting that inspired it, but as something I had seen at the time of its publication. The power of the political cartoon became immediately clear as the arguable simplistic image had stuck with me over the last four years. Contan's famous painting has prompted a plethora of works to respond with live recreations and mixed media appropriations, yet none have satarised it to as notable an extent as Brown within this work.

The original work evokes a discomfort and fear within the viewer, its murky colours and unnatural hanging of the quince and cabbage leaving our pondering unanswered. The audience is forced to assess the concept of time and ageing. Some have suggested the work to be a reflection of constellations while others see it as a mathematical pattern which each item moving closer towards the viewer and further towards the ground. Quince and lettuce where typically suspended as a means of keeping them fresh within the medieval kitchen, suggesting in Browns interpretation that within the Brexit discussions there was a desire to keep it alive as a means of altering the conditions under which we left the EU. This is subverted as the fruit and vegetables within his interpretation are rotting as they discussions become sour. The many unanswerable questions posed by Cotan's work makes it the perfect vehicle for Brown to communicate the 'in the air' nature of Brexit discussions at the time of his piece.

Browns interpretation strayed from the murky colours of the original painting, maintaining the typically visceral tones of the editorial cartoon. The bright tones avoid the festering fruit to become in any means beautiful, as the mangeling caricatures display repulsively neon detailing. I would also say that unlike Cotan, the murky tone were not necessary within this piece to evoke a tone of discomfort. The situation commented on is dark enough. By including the frame around the image, there is a cheapening to the art that Brown references, in no means suggesting anything high brown about the world of politics and certainly not the political cartoon. Humour is further used (beyond the fruit faced politics) through the double entendre of the works title. The bottom of the cartoon read "Still Life with Brexit?". The use of text and punctuation within this cartoon assures that the meaning of the work is not lost on its audience. Brown is referencing the works interpretation as a comment on time as he shows us how policies have began to slip and change throughout the course of Brexit. This is likely specifically a reference to Johnson's lies that had many voting Brexit under the guise that it would truly help their position (NHS staff in particular). Symbolism plays a key role within this work with Boris Johnson's 'watermelon smile' referencing a racist comment made by the former PM. Seeing this referenced in such a dark yet humorous way demonstrates the power of the political cartoon. It can be a means of ensuring that the aspects of our politicians that they choose to avoid acknowledging and that could easily slip from collective consciousness is still kept to accountability.

I wanted to look that this work as I found the references made to artistic lineage and symbolism crucial in the execution of a successful political cartoon. Within my own work I intend on using composition and scale as a means of representing the relationships between political leaders and the public, showing my own nod to the interpretation of art. I similarly appreciate the darkness offered by this cartoon. While many cartoons lean into a gross-out humour, this piece uses vile imagery in a truly cutting way. Furthermore, the use of symbolism within the details of this work is something that I am eager to replicate within my own traditional political cartoon.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/baroque-art1/spain/a/juan-sanchez-de-cotn-quince-melon-and-cucumber

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