It's not very often that you find people chuckling as they view an art exhibit, but at the Walters' Mightier Than The Sword: The Satirical Pen of KAL exhibit, they were outright laughing. Even less often, you find that the gentleman giving the tour is the artist himself. Kevin Kallaugher, who signs himself as KAL in his drawings, is a political cartoonist who works for the Economist and until recently, the Baltimore Sun. His drawing's also appear in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek and many international publications. He currently resides in a Baltimore suburb and continues to draw, wielding his pen against injustice in the government.
KAL calls his artwork, "tough love." It's his job to point out the negative aspects of politics to draw people's attention to them. Under his pen, no one is safe.
The Walters exhibit followed KAL's cartoons from the early 90s and the Clinton administration to the present day Bush administration and the War on Terror. In his collection are caricatures of Fidel Castro, Michael Bloomberg, Richard Nixon, Alan Greenspan, Bill Gates, John Kerry, Howard Dean, Madeline Albright and O.J. Simpson, to name a few. KAL estimates that in his 27 years as a political cartoonist he has drawn over 5,000 cartoons. His method is, "to start everyday with a blank piece of paper and have a drawing by the end of the day." To do this he frequents copious news sources, his favorite being the Economist. "They [the British] have a good, unbiased view of the happenings in America," he states.
Though it appears that KAL has had a bias against the Republicans as of late, he says, "Nah, I can't wait to get my hands on the Democrats again!" In fact, KAL's favorite person to draw is Clinton. During the administration days, he drew him so many times he could do it from memory, drawing Clinton looking happy, sleazy, sad or slick, as the news warranted. He also keeps files of pictures of politicians and celebrities and lots of elephants and donkeys, though he freely admits, "Google Images has made my work far easier."
KAL often draws himself in many of his cartoons, which seems odd in an art where you must view people critically and objectively, breaking them down into their parts, exaggerating and emphasizing for effect.
When asked why, KAL replies, "Well, I have the profile for it," indicating his prominent nose, "and I have to think, who do I draw to represent the everyday man? A young Caucasian male? That certainly doesn't represent the full scope of our country. I want to keep my artwork relevant. So I draw myself, I'm a pretty everyday guy." As the internet is becoming a more popular source for news, paper print sales are declining. KAL is taking this in stride by adapting his art to the new digital media. At the Walters, a portion of the exhibit is dedicated to showing how KAL created a three-dimensional Bush caricature that can be operated to speak in real time.
Using controls for independent eyebrow movements, lip movements and head tilts, KAL is able to bring his Bush model to life. And, since it operates in real time, people can write in questions and have Bush answer them, just like a news conference. In doing so, KAL keeps his biting, witty political commentary and stays on the cutting edge of technology. He added that he plans to make models for Cheney, Hillary Clinton and others.
The exhibit of KAL's work at the Walters ended on Sunday, September 3. Information about KAL, his cartoons, and his new digital media is available at http//:www.kaltoons.com.
