Fledgling political cartoonist Jim Carrey (yes, that Jim Carrey) explains his work.
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This hasnt stopped him at all.
Carrey paints as well, but his drawings are much more original and germane.
I want to ask you about your drawings and texts on Twitter.
Lets talk about what I call radical vulnerability.
Youre known as an actor-comedian.
Now youre making art in another medium, really putting yourself out there in another way.
Whats that like?I dont work toward the encouragement of the crowd as much as I do myself.
Those are forces that I feel compel an audience.
Things you cant avoid saying.
He says the greatest of art, the masterpieces, are the ones that stop you.
It causes a stasis in your brain.
Stops time and makes it last longer.
Theres no judgment to be made.
You just showed around 80 of your drawings at the Los Angeles gallery of Michele Maccarone.
What was it like at the opening with you standing there with your art on the wall.
Exposed?I couldnt believe it.
I said, I couldnt have done this!
Thats because the passion and the need and the desire behind it was bigger than me.
Theyre a part of my cavalcade of characters.
You are with what you do.
You do it with words now whereas you used to do it with art.
Youre a bridge because youre an artist and you understand an artist.
Thanks.I like some of your stuff.
I like some of your stuff.Yeah.
Thats all we can ever hope for, man.
Like,Okay, well this energy is now gonna go into the other thing.
But I cant stop drawing.
If I wanted to stop, I couldnt.
All artists say that.
Im free and thats what art is for me.
Its presence and freedom in presence.
On Twitter, you combine text and images.
I became kind of an activist when it comes to a lot of things that I was seeing.
There was a lot of pressure from my management: Dont mess this up.
Youve got goodwill in the world.
You start talking about politics or whatever issues, youre gonna lose half your audience.
I say: lose them.
Ive read so many actors saying they cant express what they really think because their careers will crash.
So you draw and tweet.
Did you draw today?I did.
If youd want to indulge me, I could send one out right now while were all here.
[Sends Tweet.]
Okay, if you want to look at your phones, somethings going to show up.
I think one of the greatest enemies of our democracy is the subject of this tweet.
Bipartisanshit
pic.twitter.com/PcmTusyiqk
Lets see okay, its here!
Here hes in front of a blue wave and is depicted as a turtle.
He made us hate each other.
Hes a poison in our system and we have to purge.
Say more.These are not people you’re able to deal with.
You cannot be bipartisan with a criminal.
A rapist needs to be removed, not negotiated with.
And these people are raping our system.
Theyre destroying it blatantly in front of us and they have to go.
The de-emphasizing education, all of it, theyre trying to take our conscientiousness.
Whatever youre told by Fox News and theNational Enquirerat the cashier in the supermarket its misinformation.
Its Goebbels, man.
When I write all day, I actually have far-right-wing radio on in the background.
I use it as adrenaline.
Do you?Yes.
After watching the far-right-wing yellers and Fox News I burn my clothes and take a hot shower.
Do you follow the presidents Twitter account?
But I got blocked by Donald Trump Jr.!Thats great!
But fuck no, I dont follow Trump.
Was there art in your life, your father or your mother?
Because it seems to me there had to be.
Hed do anything for you.
Just lovely, incredible, funny.
I watched him perform and I thought,Thats a good thing to do.
He wrapped people in our home every time they visited.
They would leave with pee stains.
He handed me all that talent, that ability to perform.
It was her peaceful time and she had a great talent for it.
Both of them gave me these incredible gifts.
[To the audience] You want to see some of the art right now?
Okay:
Space Force
Has your Presidency jumped the shark?
Better call SPACE FORCE!
To stupidity and beyond!!
!https://t.co/NrLGWEFBsIpic.twitter.com/BZqxmJKjv9
The date on this one is August 10 of this year.
Whats going on here?Well, I was struck by the insincerity of Mike Pence.
His face is the most insincere thing Ive ever seen in my life.
Hes squinting his eyes trying to look like he loves you.
Its a hospitality face.
What can I do to help you?
Let me hold your wallet.
Thats him trying to sell us the idea of Space Force.
Lol.Not since Saturday morning cartoons, you know what I mean?
Is Space Ghost gonna be there?
My gosh, the Jetsons.
Monster
Some people arent pretending to be monsters.
pic.twitter.com/UOH0V4zQfV
This is my Halloween photo.
To me, the right wing is a gargoyle cyclops.
It only sees in two dimensions.
For the right wing its usually What can I have?
What can I get?
How can I fuck-over these people and get it for myself?
Who do I resent?
Theres no perception going on there.
The one-eyed certainty of the right wing.
Any issue is either right or wrong.
Absolute good or bad.
They know for certain.
The left believes in paradox, multitudes, contradictions that we all live with all day.
That more thanone thingcan be true at once.Were dying to negotiate with someone reasonable.
Its like the left coming out instantly after the midterms saying, Lets be bipartisan.
Well, guess what?
Not with these guys.
They dont roll that way.
You gotta get rid of these guys.
They gotta go.
There are great things in store for this budding Mr. Smith.
Ive conducted my own straw polls, asking progressives which candidate they prefer.
People are all over the map with no consensus at all.
I dont think she would be a bad president.
I have no problems.
I would love to see Beto and Kamala Harris.
I think shes fantastic.
I like his energy a lot.
Smith Goes to Washington.
One of my favorite movies growing up.
Speaking of which, heres a drawing of yours of Jimmy Stewart right here!
My congratulations to the record numbers of women who rose to the challenge of restoring the balance.
Were in that movie.
Every time you get a little bit of fresh air, they fuck it up.
They taint it with some other outrageous thing.
A terrible, terrible way to do business.
First of all, Trump bankrupted everything hes ever done.
His mouth is the whole administration in a nutshell.
[Audience applause and laughter.]
Its fake top teeth that shine like diamonds and just this rotten, diseased root-canal central down there.
Its just eating him from within.
Tooth decay can cause heart attack and insanity.
I think that explains everything.
Just outside the room were in is Stan Lees star on Hollywood Boulevard.
Did you study his work orMadmagazine?Of course.
I lived for that.
Whats happening to All the Best People?
Children of all ages!
Yes, the great Spewdini who spews lies.
I mean thousands of documented lies in two years doesnt lie.
How does a human soul do that to themselves?
I get sick of even the thought that this guys somehow untouchable.
He will be beat.
Because were better than him.
In the background is Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin.
A great composition.There was a big show-off moment for the Aryan race.
Owens just kicked their ass, and thats what theyre afraid of.
Hitler walked out.Busted right through that swastika man.
That was a beautiful moment in history.
It sickens me that we still have to be here.
How long have we even existed with such racial hatred?
We still cant get over each others fucking skin color?
African-American people gave me my career.
They gave me my break.
They encouraged me and welcomed me.
The community has incredible grace in the face of this cancerous hate.
I dont know how they havent burned this country to the ground.
What do you think of this work?Accosting people as they came in.
First person I asked said, These give me incredible comfort.
They show how angry I am.
That was really moving.
The next person said, These drawings are showing the other side, how we see them.
I hope they can see our pain.
Another person said, These are devastatingly on point about America.
I found Republicans and they too were touched by your drawings.
They didnt say you were some libtard.
None of these people went to galleries regularly.
All of them could access your work in fairly complex ways.
Jim, I wish you would come on to Instagram.
Theres more love there!Instagram is owned by Facebook.
I will not be on Instagram.
We need to stop these billionaires from destroying our culture.
I dont think its enough to go Okay, lets just regulate them.
We need to regulate them for sure.
Shouldnt you be putting your money into the country?
Giving back.To people who need it.
Flint, Michigan, rape kits, education, things like that.
Why cant we take care of ourselves?
Elon Musk wants to make a rocket ship to Mars.
And when I say there, I mean standing in the way of progress.
