Vanity (from The Seven Deadly Sins)

James Todd

James Todd's woodcut series meditating on the Seven Deadly Sins draws from satirical political cartoonists and illustrators of time immemorial. Aspects of Jose Posada, Daumier, and even the more somber Goya crop up in between the fine lines of his compositions.

In his woodcut "Vanity," the folly of politicians and their egoistic endeavors is illuminated by the artist's keen eye and sharp chisel. They are draped in the unwavering banner of performative patriotism (success), and hounded by symbolic death (failure). Death itself stands proudly alongside its clueless prey, saluting the American flag with the flair of any Vaudevillian performer. What "Vanity" lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in humor.