FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHAT WE LAUGH AT evolves over time. As the number of obese and overweight
people point to an epidemic that ravages the health and well-being of average Americans,
a painting by Mark Ulriksen of overweight Americans in a high-wire act with fast food
(opposite) and a sketch by Barry Blitt of Michael Moore sinking into the wet cement of
Hollywood’s Walk of Fame (right) cease to seem so funny. Lack of access to fresh produce
and overconsumption of sugar and refined foods in the United States are deeply political
issues, alluded to in Mark Ulriksen’s painting of a starving child being handed some of
the candy we lavish on our kids on Halloween (below). Anita Kunz’s overweight Statue of
Liberty (middle, right) is a problematic subject for a laugh when the drawing is all there is,
though a similar image can be used if it’s to illustrate a cover story (bottom, right).

“Provocative images are necessary because we’ve all got our two-car garage and our fridge full of
food, so there’s complacency. We need to shake things up a little bit, and images have a unique
way of doing that: We’re a visual culture.”

–MARK ULRIKSEN

“What are some things that
remain taboo? People don’t talk
about money, people don’t talk
about class.”
–MARK ULRIKSEN

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