Peter Brookes Exhibition opens at Chris Beetles Gallery

By John Freeman on September 17, 2015

A familiar face provides the humour in this Peter Brookes cartoon. More info here. © Peter Brookes

An exhibition of over 150 cartons by The Times’ political cartoonist Peter Brookes has just opened today at London’s Chris Beetles Gallery.

All of the satirical works are up for sale.

Peter Brookes was born in Liverpool in 1943, the son of an RAF officer. After failing to finish a three-year pilot’s course for the Royal Air Force in the 1960s, he took an extra mural degree at London University in 1964. He then attended Manchester College of Art and the Central School of Art, London, later lecturing at the Central School and Royal College of Art. His work has appeared in a number of exhibitions, including a solo show held at the Mel Calman Gallery in 1978.

Brookes succeeded Ranan Lurie as political illustrator and cartoonist for The Times in 1982, and became its full-time political cartoonist a decade later. Since 1986, he has also shared the job of cover artist for The Spectator with Nicholas Garland. In addition, he has contributed to many other magazines, including Radio Times, The Times Literary Supplement, New Society, New Statesman and The Listener. He has also produced illustrations for The Folio Society and Glyndebourne Opera, and has designed covers for Penguin Books and others. He was elected to the membership of the Alliance Graphique Internationale in 1988.

Brookes has been represented by the Chris Beetles Gallery since 1997, when it held an exhibition drawn from the first volume of his fine and funny Nature Notes, which originally appeared in the Saturday edition of The Times. Subsequent solo shows took place at the gallery in 1999, 2001 and 2004, and his work has been a regular feature of its annual exhibition, ‘The Illustrators’.

“Peter Brookes maintains the most consistently high standard of any editorial cartoonist working in Britain today,” the Gallery notes on their web site. “His daily political cartoons and weekly ‘Nature Notes’, produced for The Times, are always inventive, incisive and confidently drawn. They are the fruit of wide experience as a cartoonist and illustrator, and of complete independence from editorial intrusion.”

• Testing Times: Peter Brookes at the Chris Beetles Gallery, Ryder Street, St. James, London, runs until 3rd October- more information here on the Gallery’s web site

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.