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Satirical illustrator and political cartoonist Steve Brodner will speak about his career and the art and power of the political cartoon on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m.  The Emerson Gallery is hosting Brodner in conjunction with the exhibition of the political cartoons of 19th-century artist Thomas Nast.  Brodner's presentation will be held in the Chemistry Auditorium (located behind and to the right of the gallery) and will be followed by a reception in the gallery.  The exhibit, presentation, and reception are free and open to the public.

Brodner began career as a daily political cartoonist and has, for the last 25 years, brought his satiric vision to the world of freelance illustration.  His work, in that time, has appeared in every major publication the United States and many overseas. His work is currently seen regularly in The New Yorker, where his most recent back page appeared in October, and the Atlantic, for which he created the November cover.  He is known for covering stories with words and pictures such as the George W. Bush gubernatorial
campaign for Esquire, the family farm crisis for the Progressive and climbing Mt. Fuji for Outside magazine.  He is currently using illustration as a story-telling tool in making documentary films.  He is winner of the 2000 Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism.

In the strength of its visual message, Brodner's work is not that dissimilar from that of Thomas Nast, whose works will hang in the Emerson Gallery through Jan. 5.   Unlike today's cartoonists, however, Nast wielded enormous political power through several decades in the mid- to late 1800s, making or breaking the campaigns of politicians via his satirical cartoons published in Harper's Weekly.  Nast attacked corruption, made and unmade politicians and practically set the agenda for the country.  The fact that every presidential candidate whom he supported while at Harper's Weekly won was not lost upon those who were considering a run for the office. President Ulysses S. Grant said, "Two things elected me, the sword of Sheridan and the pencil of Nast."  President Lincoln suggested that Nast had been the Union army's best recruiter. 

The Emerson Gallery is located on the Hamilton College campus in Clinton, NY, in Christian Johnson Hall.  Gallery hours are, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and, on Saturday and Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m.  For information, call (315) 859-4396.

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