Ann Telnaes was born in Sweden in 1960, moved to the United States with her family, and became a citizen when she was 13. Interested in graphic design and illustration, she attended Arizona State University and then pursued more intensive art training at the California Institute of the Arts. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in character animation in 1984. Telnaes worked for various studios and at Walt Disney Imagineering as a designer. She was compelled to do her first political cartoon by the Chinese government's brutal suppression of the 1991 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and by the treatment of Anita Hill during the Senate confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Once she got into the swing of it, she won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning for a series on the Bush/Gore presidential campaign.
This top-drawer hardcover is being released in association with the Library of Congress exhibit featuring 60 of Telnaes's original drawings. It includes a robust and revealing overview of her career by Ben Sargent and two interviews with the artist by Martha H. Kennedy and Harry Katz. It is divided into four sections: Put It On Your Tab, The World According to W, 2001 Pulitzer Prize, and Happily Ever After. In the 87 color and black-and-white cartoons, Telnaes comments on the words and actions of America's leaders, political campaigns, corporate scandals, the wars waged by the USA against Afghanistan and Iraq, the abysmal treatment of women around the world, consumerism, the threats to First Amendment rights, and much more.
It is gratifying to see injustice attacked with such moral rigor and playfulness. This is edgy humor for sure. To see examples, visit www.anntelnaes.com.
