101 candles and counting : bedtime for birthdays?

by Jesse Marinoff Reyes ( Jesse Marinoff Reyes Design, Maplewood, N.J.)

---"Bedtime for Democracy," 1983 Illustration: Winston Smith---

ILLUSTRATION AGGRAVATION: Today is the 101st Birthday of our former president, Ronald Reagan. We would be remiss in not calling attention to one of our least favorite occupants of the oval office and reprising our Centennial BASH from last year. Enjoy!

---Punk poster design: "The Hinckly (sic) Fan Club," New York City, circa early 1980s Design: uncredited---

…Or at the least, blowing a raspberry at the memory of the unavoidably iconic two-term president of the 1980s. It is my feeling that the most acidic satirical imagery was generated mostly out of the underground—from punk posters to community and alternative newspapers—and then emanated outward into the mainstream as these posters, covers, and illustrations point toward. Many established artists now were at the beginnings of their careers in the late-1970s and 1980s and were perhaps even more attuned to social protest than even the best of the established political cartoonists, whose work—though great—had a degree of respect and respectability that anonymous punk posters did not….

---Spitting Image, Central Television (UK) series (1984-1996) Puppet Design: Peter Fluck and Roger Law Satirical portrait done for the book, Spitting Images, Harvest/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987---

Even as the 1980s began to recede in the rear view mirror, Reagan’s memory and impact on culture endured and thusly many of the same artists who took on the mantle of social criticism then carried on into the 1990s.

---RAW #8, 1986 issue Inside Back Cover Feature Illustration: Sue Coe---

This album is presented in concert with similar albums on the Facebook pages of Newmanology, Stephen Kroninger, and Patrick JB Flynn. Make sure you visit them to see a like-minded, jaundiced view of The Gipper and of the art of political protest.

---Flash Marks #1, June 1989 issue "The Dream and Lie of Reagan" circa 1985 Comic strip: Carel Moiseiwitsch "With acknowledgements to Picasso: Picasso drew two 9 panelled strips called "The Dream and Lie of Franco" to illustrate a poem he wrote about the Spanish Civil War. The drawings were part of the preparation for his most controversial painting, 'Guernica'."---

All images are copyright © the individual artists.

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