Polar bears have long been the poster animals for climate change. Melting sea ice threatens their eating and migration patterns; some scientists believe that the species could be nearly extinct by 2100. In his latest cover, John Cuneo puts a mordant spin on the problem. We recently talked to the artist about his process, his upcoming book, and what moves him to grab his pen.
Climate change is deadly serious. Do you think that funny pictures can help bring attention to the issue?
Climate change is dire, ominous, and heartbreaking. I agree that these are not qualities that lend themselves to funny pictures, but that’s what dark humor is for. This idea, which was suggested by a friend, captures that balance of uncomfortable and bleak.
You live upstate, in the Catskills, and have for years. Do you see a shift in the weather?
Oh, yes. My neighbors think that, because of the milder winters we’ve been having, the ticks are not dying as they used to. So now they seem to have become a yearlong menace.
You often portray animals. Do you have cats or dogs, and do you use them as models?
I don’t use actual animals as models, and I’m allergic to anything with fur. So I rely on photos, my imagination, and, for occasional inspiration—if not blatant imitation—the work of past masters such as A. B. Frost and T. S. Sullivant, who clue me in when it comes to anthropomorphizing. In this instance, the fact that bears can walk on their hind legs didn’t hurt.
In your upcoming book, “Coping Skills,” you feature some of your more scabrous and depraved sketches. Are there others that you would never publish, in any form?
I work a lot in sketchbooks and try not to edit myself, so, yes, there are cruder, even less tasteful drawings that are probably best left unpublished. Meanwhile, the guideline-violation folks who monitor my Instagram account (@johncuneo3) have been sorely tested.
You spent a lot of time over the past few years trying to portray Donald Trump’s venal side. Do you find President Biden as much of an inspiration, artistically?
I dearly hope that I will never be as “inspired” by a President as I have been by Trump. I don’t consider myself much of a political satirist, but that guy was simply too rich and venal a subject to not draw him in a hundred unseemly ways.
For more covers about climate change, see below:
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