Every week, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 42-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
20th-century political art includes work that runs from rather oblique to very direct. At this historic juncture, it would be good if more songwriters, painters, writers and other artists honed their protest chops.
I’ve paired “Rigid Man In An Ice Age” with David’s evocative illustration of a concerned woman of color with a conservative-looking man vomiting out his no-doubt abhorrent ideas. If what he’s saying isn’t specifically about her, it can be assumed his warped views will affect her and millions of others.
“Rigid Man In An Ice Age” from The Eagle And The Poodle (Matador, 1996) (download):
