Protest art “is one of those things that defines us as civilized,” Durango cartoonist Judith Reynolds said during a lecture Thursday.
Reynolds discussed cartoons and other forms of protest art at Durango Arts Center, showing the controversial cartoons from the French publication Charlie Hebdo that provoked a massacre in Paris in January.
Reynolds said she had qualms about showing a Charlie Hebdo cartoon portraying the Muslim prophet Muhammad but decided to go ahead.
“I lost a lot of sleep last night thinking I’m not sure I want to show these,” she said.
But, she added, “political cartoonists have a lot of purposes. Standing up to bullies is one, and that’s kind of where I’m at.”
Reynolds also showed one of the controversial Muhammad cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005.
“This is powerful and – I’m searching for the right word – volatile stuff,” Reynolds said.
The audience of about 50 was attentive and respectful; the cartoons didn’t raise a murmur during the lecture.
Only a portion of Reynold’s 90-minute lecture centered on modern controversial cartoons. She showed examples of protest art from the 16th century to modern times, including Pablo Picasso’s famous anti-war painting “Guernica” and a cartoon of Napoleon facing backwards while riding a donkey.
She also showed a 1914 magazine cover by John Sloan portraying Colorado’s Ludlow Massacre in which soldiers and guards killed striking miners.
Reynolds also showed modern political cartoons by American newspaper cartoonists.
“As our newspapers are struggling, this way of commenting ... is fading from view,” she said.
Reynolds pens twice-monthly cartoons for The Durango Herald’s editorial page, which is overseen separately from the news department. She is also a frequent contributor to the Herald’s Arts & Entertainment section.
The audience of art lovers said they enjoyed the lecture.
“I thought it was great,” said Terra Anderson of Durango. “I always learn something from Judith. Her knowledge is so vast, and she applies it in so many ways.”
The lecture was one of a series of weekly talks by Reynold’s on art history. Her next lecture, at 3 p.m. Thursday, is called “Public Art: Issues and Aesthetics.”
cslothower@durangoherald.com
