Manx National Heritage is pleased to announce the opening of its latest exhibition ‘Have I Got News for Yessir – The Cartoons of Phil Woodford’ at the House of Manannan, Peel.
The exhibition celebrates local cartoonist Phil Woodford’s light-hearted take on the Island’s news stories, both past and present. It showcases a selection of his work printed in the Isle of Man Examiner and published online via Facebook.
Phil Woodford’s love of drawing began whilst training as a lithographer at the Hull School of Art during the 1950s. He began drawing cartoons as a way to record humorous events in the workplace and to entertain his workmates. For over 40 years he has captured everyday events in cartoon form, continuing to delight his family and friends with his quirky take on events of the day.
After some years Phil approached Isle of Man Newspapers with a view to drawing a weekly cartoon for the Isle of Man Examiner. His offer was accepted and his cartoons appeared regularly during the early 2000’s. Each topical cartoon poked gentle fun at Manx news stories and proved to be a great hit with the readers.
In 2013 Phil’s cartoons went digital as he introduced them to the world of social media. His Facebook page, @philscartoons keeps his online followers up to date with his humorous sketches.
Katie King, Community Learning Officer for Manx National Heritage said:
“It has been an absolute delight curating this exhibition with Phil Woodford. His whimsical and light hearted take on Manx news stories are welcome relief from the depressing news stories dominating the world today. They will bring a smile and a laugh to our visitors!”
Phil Woodford explains more about his reasons for cartooning:
“My motivation has always been to raise a smile from people. My cartoons represent a simple way of illustrating a point of view, and if it can be done in a humorous and sympathetic way, even better. Sometimes a news story just seems plain wrong or ridiculous to me. These silly stories are the subject matter I enjoy most. As they say a picture tells a thousand words.”
The exhibition opens on Saturday 5 May and runs until 5 August 2018. Admission is free, with donations welcome.