Patrick Cook
Encyclopedia
Patrick St. John Cook is an Australia
n cartoonist
who is probably best known for his output in The Bulletin
, Australia's weekly news magazine. Since the demise of that publication, he has found a wider audience with his satirical essays and cartoons in the Australian edition of the The Spectator
.
The satire
of Cook is notable in that it considers nothing to be sacred. Unlike many others of his generation, Cook avoids an obvious political agenda, and this fact makes him consistently unpredictable. His hostile depiction of Harry Seidler
's functionalist, Bauhaus
-type architecture in one of his cartoons resulted in Seidler suing him; Seidler lost.
Cook combines great cartooning gifts with a sharp prose idiom. His column "Not the News" has run in various publications since the National Times, most recently in The Bulletin.
Some of Cook's brilliance has also been evident in his puppetry designs for a TV news satire. He also writes scripts for many TV comedies.
Most visibly, his cartoon style has been a big influence on many other Australian artists. The style is both minimalist and organic, ranging from his homicidal wine-swilling koala
s to overwrought politicians and social climbers.
An autobiographical article by Cook for The Bulletin during July 2006 explains, with characteristic black comedy in both its words and its illustrations, the medical treatment he has lately undergone.
The 1980 Fontana Collins publication Us and Them contains over 100 early works by Patrick Cook.
The book cover features an attack of the killer koalas type cartoon that is typical of Cook's irreverent, playful manner.
Allen and Unwin published a further expanded collection of his works in 1985 under the title of The Great Big Cook Book.
His career also included being a puppeteer.
The Bulletin (1 September 1998), p 74.
"Cavaliers and roundheads," The Bulletin (31 August 1999), p 122.
"We are the world," The Bulletin (1 May 2001), p 90.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
who is probably best known for his output in The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
, Australia's weekly news magazine. Since the demise of that publication, he has found a wider audience with his satirical essays and cartoons in the Australian edition of the The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
.
Creative output
His works include Hot and Wet and Ship of Fools. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Cook was a prolific cartoonist for the now-defunct National Times. In fact, a great many readers found that Cook's cartoons constituted a good reason in themselves for purchasing the newspaper.The satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of Cook is notable in that it considers nothing to be sacred. Unlike many others of his generation, Cook avoids an obvious political agenda, and this fact makes him consistently unpredictable. His hostile depiction of Harry Seidler
Harry Seidler
Harry Seidler, AC OBE was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauhaus in Australia.Harry Seidler designed more than 180 buildings and he...
's functionalist, Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
-type architecture in one of his cartoons resulted in Seidler suing him; Seidler lost.
Cook combines great cartooning gifts with a sharp prose idiom. His column "Not the News" has run in various publications since the National Times, most recently in The Bulletin.
Some of Cook's brilliance has also been evident in his puppetry designs for a TV news satire. He also writes scripts for many TV comedies.
Most visibly, his cartoon style has been a big influence on many other Australian artists. The style is both minimalist and organic, ranging from his homicidal wine-swilling koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
s to overwrought politicians and social climbers.
An autobiographical article by Cook for The Bulletin during July 2006 explains, with characteristic black comedy in both its words and its illustrations, the medical treatment he has lately undergone.
The 1980 Fontana Collins publication Us and Them contains over 100 early works by Patrick Cook.
The book cover features an attack of the killer koalas type cartoon that is typical of Cook's irreverent, playful manner.
Allen and Unwin published a further expanded collection of his works in 1985 under the title of The Great Big Cook Book.
His career also included being a puppeteer.
Examples of Cook's humour include
The Bulletin (32 January 2008)- A fictional speech by Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
:
"To the women of America, well, I know in my heart [...] that you concur with that fine American feminist [referring to Nina Burleigh, not named] who wrote: 'I’d give Bill Clinton a blow job, just to thank him for keeping abortionAbortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
legal.' To these women I can only say: 'Abortion is still legal'." - "Feel the carpet burn,"
The Bulletin (1 September 1998), p 74.
- On Australia's 6 November 1999 Republic referendumAustralian republic referendum, 1999The Australian republic referendum held on 6 November 1999 was a two-question referendum to amend the Constitution of Australia. The first question asked whether Australia should become a republic with a President appointed by Parliament following a bi-partisan appointment model which had...
:
"IF YOU VOTE YES: 1. You will give enormous satisfaction to a gaggle of bankers, multi-millionaires, Labor snobs who regard you as a rabble of ghastly peasants, especially if you live outside the cities, and who are still in denial over the implosion of the KeatingKeating-Places:Several places in the US:* Keating Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania* Keating Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania* East Keating Township, Pennsylvania* West Keating Township, Pennsylvania* Keating, Oregon-Miscellaneous:...
government. Lofty journalists, P&C [sic] commissars, lipless earrings and smug beards will similarly rejoice. In short, all the types you thought you were shot of years ago. So far from uniting Australians as a mature and coherent society, you will be creating two nations and one of them will be insufferable for weeks."
"Cavaliers and roundheads," The Bulletin (31 August 1999), p 122.
- On globalisation:
Australia "is the only country in the world to take ["free tradeFree tradeUnder a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
"] seriously, For [other nations], it’s kind of like the game we played in college, where the lights go out and someone hollers 'Pants down!' and when the lights go on again, only one schmuck is bare-arsed and everyone else hoots at them... The beauty of free trade is that it abolishes national boundaries, along with nations, those nations’ industries and currencies, and where necessary, governments."
"We are the world," The Bulletin (1 May 2001), p 90.
External links
- Three Cartoonists - transcript of Andrew DentonAndrew DentonAndrew Christopher Denton is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program Enough Rope. He is known for his comedy and interviewing technique...
’s ABC interview with cartoonists Bruce PettyBruce PettyBruce Petty is one of Australia’s best known political satirists and cartoonists. He is a regular contributor to Melbourne's The Age newspaper...
, Bill LeakBill LeakBill Leak is a cartoonist and painter, primarily of portraits. He is the daily editorial cartoonist on The Australian newspaper. He has won the Walkley Awards nine times....
and Patrick Cook