A good political cartoon works like a magic trick: one panel, a handful of words, and suddenly a complicated news story makes uncomfortable sense. Ivan Ehlers has spent years perfecting that trick, even though he describes himself as a "reluctant political cartoonist." Considering he was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category, the reluctance doesn't seem to be holding him back.
An Ecuadorian-American cartoonist and writer, Ivan is a lifelong resident of San Pedro in Los Angeles, and studied psychology before cartooning became his career. His work appears in The New Yorker, MAD Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and LA Taco. In sharp black-and-white drawings, he takes on political hypocrisy, immigration debates, misinformation, and the creative ways people defend what they already believe. For the artist, a political cartoon is a way to call out what's happening and to show others they don't have to stay quiet.
Not every cartoon is meant to make readers comfortable, and that's rather the point. We've gathered a selection of his work below. Scroll down and tell us in the comments which one made you stop and think.
More info: Instagram | ivanehlers.com
