Cartoon Hero No Cartoon

Yesterday I reported on Doug TenNapel`s call for moral integrity of artists. That Art is in fact a noble calling with great responsibilities .

Today I have the pleasure of reporting on one of the bravest artist I know, Tayo Fatunla, Africa News Cartoonist and BBC Worldservice cartoon contributor. I knew him under the name Ed when we were at the Kubert School together 30 some years ago.

He is from Nigeria and at the time I first met him he had been doing a political comic stripe in the national paper of Nigeria for about 3 years (from around the age of 15). Yes he was from one of the ruling families in Nigeria (the U.N. Ambassador from Nigeria came to his graduation) And being from one of the important families may have gotten him it the paper in the first place. But even then he was taking on some heavy subjects that would have scared me when I was 15 years old. Hell they would still scare me today. Family connections only protect you so long. I knew that I was risking my livelihood with each drawing but Tayo was risking his life and still does.

In October Tayo Fatunla was honored in Tourcoing, France with a trophy for his contributions to Press cartoons along with other cartoonists from Scotland and Ireland and France.



Tayo Fatunla`s poster design for the Festival adorned shops, streets and restaurants in various sizes all around Tourcoing. He also held caricature sessions at a local French School and at the Festival.

Congratulations Tayo! You humble me as always with your bravery. For more information on the work of this important artist hero you can see Tayo`s Cartoons on this link: http://www.tayofatunla.com/