THE ART OF RALPH STEADMAN
Inside the Minds of Ralph Steadman & Ceri Levy
interview / liz rice mccray
What would you expect when two idiosyncratic, creative, passionate, courageous, engaged, mischievous and curious jokesters collaborate on an important endeavor together? Ralph Steadman and Ceri Levy’s latest contribution to the literary world offers one wonderful answer, the unexpected. They have managed to take on the very serious topic of environmental crisis with upbeat, humorous, informative and beautiful abandon. Following their previous works, Extinct Boids (2012) and Nextinction (2015), Critical Critters is the third collaboration between artist/cartoonist Ralph Steadman and filmmaker/conservationist, Ceri Levy. The “Gonzovationists,” as they call themselves, hope that through this epic trilogy covering extinct and critically endangered animals, they can awaken and spur other Gonzovationists to action on the behalf of so many creatures who are at risk on this planet.
Ralph Steadman is a Welsh-born, world-renowned artist with a wide and wild repertoire from truculent political caricatures, book illustrations, beer, wine and musicians’ labels to the numerous books and articles he illustrated for his old creative partner (counterculturist and founder of the Gonzo journalism movement) Hunter S. Thompson. Known for his unique, spontaneous, and uncompromising style, Steadman is the recipient of numerous awards including the “Francis Williams Book Illustration Award” for Alice in Wonderland, the “American Society of Illustrators’ Certificate of Merit,” the “W H Smith Illustration Award” for I Leonardo, the “Dutch Silver Paintbrush Award” for Inspector Mouse, the “Italian Critica in Erba Prize” for That’s My Dad, the “BBC Design Award” for postage stamps, the “Black Humor Award” in France and several Designers and Art Directors Association Awards. In 1979 he was voted “Illustrator of the Year” by the American Institute of Graphic Arts.
The charming Ceri Levy is a writer, filmmaker, producer and catalyst – bringing together talented people from various fields to promote awareness of important global issues. He started with directing music videos and moved into documentaries and now writes for various venues. In Critical Critters his style is marked by his tendency for “beastly sneers and callous observations,” as noted on the books cover.
Together Steadman and Levy aspire to awaken and inspire the layman to get involved in the fight to protect our furry and feathered friends who share this beautiful yet broken habitat with us. As in their prior works, the book weaves in diary-style a record of the creative madness that inevitably ensues when these two brilliant minds work together. Via their preferred avenues of satire and raucous wit, coupled with Steadman’s explosive, sometimes gruesome but always captivating illustrations, they plan to drag you into their world, the one in which we all live, and to enlist you irrevocably into the fight for the delicate species that we are rapidly losing. Many Thanks to the lovely Ralph Steadman and Ceri Levy for taking the time to answer our questions. And special thanks are in order to Rachel Ewen of Bloomsbury Publishing and most importantly Sadie Williams for making this interview happen.