Bucks artists give their take on political cartoons

Staff report NEWTOWN, Pa. — Seven contemporary artists, including four Pulitzer Prize winners, give their views of the 2012 election in “Political Lines: Commentary and the Art of Political Cartooning.”

The free exhibition runs through Oct. 20 at Bucks County Community College’s Hicks Art Center Gallery, according to a college news release.

The artists have the intention of entertaining, informing and needling the subjects of our polarized American public discourse, according to guest curator Michael Kabbash.

“In today’s world of 140-character-or-less ‘tweets,’ the brevity of a political cartoon is a timely asset,” Kabbash said in his curator’s statement. “The public can read the papers, but they often stop at the headlines. Editorial cartoons uniquely summarize and translate complex social and political messages into a form that the general public can understand.”

“Political Lines” features the work of Eric Allie, Chuck Asay, Tony Auth, Daryl Cagle, Mike Keefe, Signe Wilkinson and Matt Wuerker.

“The seven editorial cartoonists featured in this exhibit run the gamut of political persuasion, ages, genders,” Kabbash explains. “They are comprised of four Pulitzer Prize winners, in-house artists, book authors, blog creators and are respected throughout the industry. Using traditional and digital media, these artists work like journalists, responding to immediate events to meet publishing deadlines for newspapers and websites.”

Bucks County Community College is located at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa. For gallery hours and more information, visit the gallery’s web page or call 215-9688425.

“Political Lines” is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency, though its regional arts funding partnership, Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA).