It is a relatively old trend for cartoonists to be engaged in such a way, but Paweł Kuczyński’s artwork aims to do more than just criticize. “Artists can change everything,” he said to the Spanish daily El Comercio.
Thanks to the Internet revolution, during the last 15 years humanity has changed its perspective on various issues involving community life: politics, religion, and morality; and this phenomenon is because the Internet made anyone able to get informed about any topic, generating opinion and somehow ‘awakening’ curiosity and involvement of each person in their own social circle. This is how the nonconforming youth have prompted new political trends that led to the main ruling parties restructuring their strategies to (inevitably) keep their voters. The seriousness of humoristic cartoons seems especially evident after the tragedy in the quarters of the French satirical weekly, Charlie Hedbo.
Despite having been drawing for more than 10 years, Kuczyński’s popularity only soared recently thanks to Facebook – which, ironically, he criticizes in his drawings. His works include a strong critique of social communication through social media and also refer to economic inequality and political distrust. In a society forever on the lookout for the seeds of change, constantly visible drawings such as Kuczyński’s generate controversy which appeals to the Spanish-speaking world.
Paweł Kuczyński graduated from the University of Fine Arts in Poznan, and has received numerous international awards, including one ‘Eryk’, given by the Association of Polish Cartoonists. Moreover, Kuczyński has appeared in several articles in popular press around the world.
Cartoon Xira is promoted by the Polish Embassy in Portugal.
Sources: cm-vfxira.pt, pawelkuczynski.com, elcomercio.es.