Cartoonist Rowson on history

This video from England is called TateShots Issue 2 – Martin Rowson on Hogarth.

From British daily The Morning Star:

History according to our Rowson

(Tuesday 28 October 2008)

BOOK: Fuck – The Human Odyssey by Martin Rowson
(Jonathan Cape, £16.99)

THIS is a compacted history of our universe, beginning with the big bang, as seen through the eyes of maverick cartoonist Martin Rowson.

In 67 full-page cartoons, he takes us on a momentous journey, capturing decisive moments of this history. His use of speech bubbles in the book is reduced to just one word, “fuck.”

The word is used throughout in its expletive meaning, indicating a painful or unfortunate incident or a monumental cock-up. Through the extinction of the dinosaurs, the birth of Jesus, the English revolution to the ecological collapse of our world, he depicts human progress as a grotesque journey to oblivion.

Rowson’s cartoons puncture pomposity, mock the sacred cows, pillory the powerful and humble the hypocrites. They spare no-one. Challenging what he depicts as a march of despair, he releases unrelenting savagery and vitriol with his pen.

Rowson has been a full-time freelance cartoonist since graduating from Cambridge in 1982. His cartoons have appeared regularly in The Guardian, The Times, the Daily Mirror, The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman, The Spectator, Tribune, the Morning Star and many other publications.