About the Artwork on this T-shirtThe famous Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, known and loved the world over for their off the scale funny antics, attention riveting adventures and an immense capacity to spread the effects of their personal freedom to the reader, are at it again. Once again, they have jumped that thinnest of barriers between cartoon and reality and are out doing what they do the best. Pursuing life, liberty and happiness with zest! On or off the page. Now they have hopped a ride on a T-shirt and are out on the streets, wherever you are. What their next adventure is, and with who, only you the wearer can decide. Underground cartoonist Gilbert Shelton in a stroke of what we consider to be sheer genius, patterned the NOBODY for President cartoon after Archibald Willard's painting, The Spirit of '76. The Willard painting, circa 1876 was done with America's Centennial celebration in mind. Mr. Shelton then reinterpreted it for a wholly new era and a new breed of American Revolutionary 100 years later in 1976. A comparison of the these two peices of art, one a painting, the other a cartoon drawing, is instructive. The tone has changed. The very mode has changed. From one quite adequately capturing battle's grim determination. The other an aura of celebration. The traditional marching band so suitable in times of war, to lift and firm the spirit, has changed into a street band with a street party atmosphere. You know, more like a Cinco de Mayo celebration. With some unchoreographed festivities thrown in for good measure. Who knows? If and when a country's inhabitants have an outlook like this, perhaps some of the really good but hard to come by changes from here on out, won't necessarily need to be accomplished by war and conflict. But by street party diplomacy! This powerful cartoon image has elements that are quite helpful in our struggle to to keep our public spaces ours. OPEN- for both protest and celebration. As we have gathered, this cartoon was made specifically for the inception of pop-hippie icon and countercultural clownWavy Gravy's first Nobody for President campaign ever in the USA's bicentennial year 1976. We could be wrong about this next statement, but given the nature of the urge for human freedom, we do not think that this cartoon's appeal has any reason to be limited to being "merely an American phenomena". So we are offering it to the world. It will make a strong, humorous statement in virtually any (your) country, in any (your) language...and out onto EVERYBODY'S streets. We feel it is quite in keeping with the ongoing advance of democracy everywhere. In the burgeoning awareness of how valuable our Human Freedom is, this graphic depiction rates well and will almost certainly stand the test of time well, as does its predecessor painting. Both artists, Mr Willard and then Mr. Shelton captured for their times, the Essential Spirit of Liberty For some of the more interesting articles and interviews about or with Shelton that can be found on the web. |
