From Lines To Laughs: Women+ On Men

An exhibit of drawings in New York City

Jan 03, 2024

Last year, I was honored to be invited to curate an exhibit of cartoons by women and women+ contributors to The New Yorker for the Society of Illustrators. It’s a wonderful, century-old museum dedicated to the art of illustration and cartooning, and is housed in an entire townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It also has a membership for professionals, and many New Yorker cartoonists from the beginning of the magazine in 1925 have been members. I am very proud to showcase the work of women here, it will be my second such exhibit on women for the Society. In recent years, three women New Yorker cartoonists have been inducted to their Hall of Fame: Mary Petty, Helen Hokinson and Roz Chast.

My first show on cartoonists who are women was in 2018; it was a celebration of the fact that in the Dec 4th, 2017 issue of The New Yorker there were more women cartoonists than men. Historian and New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin deseves much credit for discovering that groundbreaking information, and here is his reportage on the exhibition. The show had historical pieces representing some of the women who drew for the magazine since its beginning in 1925. Over the decades, the number of women who have drawn humor is a fraction compared to the number of men; the show (and my history Very Funny Ladies) were efforts to redress the balance, make note that yes, women do draw cartoons— and have for a century. When I began my career in 1979, this was not something that was discussed a lot, I was one of four women drawing for The New Yorker. Now the numbers of men and women are equal.

Some of the contributors to the 2018 exhibit

When the Society asked me to curate the show this year, I decided that it needed to have a theme. I already did the exhibit— and a book— drawing attention to the subject of cartoonists who are women. In the new show, I wanted to avoid any assumption that all women are alike and draw alike, etc. So I suggested the exhibit be about women drawing on the subject men—after all, men have been drawing about women for centuries. I wanted to be inclusive, so it’s a show of cartoons by women+ . The title of the exhibit is From Lines to Laughs: Women+ On Men.

I just finished my curation, and it includes 19 women, non-binary and transgender cartoonists, and a few historical cartoonists. The Society is hanging the show as we speak. The opening event is January 17th at 6:30, and I will be moderating a panel with cartoonist Roz Chast and New Yorker Cartoon Editor Emma Allen. The link to purchase tickets for the event is here. I hope to see some of you at the opening if you are in town!

Here below is my copy for the exhibition, From Lines to Laughs: Women+ On Men.

“Cartoonists are instinctive observers. It is an art form that tells us about ourselves, and helps us see the things we do in our day-to-day lives. Most of us are unaware, however, that it is the job of the cartoonist to notice. While making us laugh, these drawings reveal absurdities in relationships and imbalances in gender politics. For centuries, humor has been dominated by male artists; this has changed. More and more women and non-binary artists are joining the ranks of visual humorists, expressing what they see, all the while making us laugh. Some of our subjects are men. This is what this exhibit is about, how women+ make fun of men, lovingly and truthfully. It’s our turn.

This explosion of women and non-binary cartoon artists is now visible in all areas of graphic humor; this exhibit focuses on creators who appear in The New Yorker Magazine. Primarily consisting of contemporary contributors, it also includes examples of how cartoonists from the early part of the 20th century made fun of their male counterparts. The New Yorker has a tradition of social commentary in cartoons, their artists have been drawing about our lives for almost a century. Much has changed in our world– including the number of women and nonbinary artists who are humorists. And yet much has stayed the same. However, now we are lucky to hear the experiences and humor from everyone.”