FORTS'S PLACE: God invented mankind because he loved silly stories.

That’s right the silly, the weird the damned and the gonzo. Gonzo is created in many mediums i.e. art, film, photography. Hunter S Thompson is best known for being the founding father of gonzo journalism. And what better gonzo artist to look at then one of Hunter’s long time friends; Ralph Steadman.

Steadman is a British artist who is best known for his political cartoons and caricatures and has won awards for illustrations in classics like "Alice in Wonderland", "Treasure Island" and "Animal Farm". He has also written several of his own books based on Sigmund Freud and Leonardo da Vinci and "The Big I Am", the story of God. Along with his interpretation of art and his unique way of putting himself within the context of the work to reveal the truth of the subject that is involved.

After Hunter’s death he wrote ‘The Joke’s Over’, about his experiences with his friend. The book is filled with Ralph’s and Hunter’s collaboration, memories and crazy tales that were often filled with drink -and lots of it.

His personal intrigue in wine and his means enabled him to travel the world’s vineyards in search of greater knowledge and understanding of what makes a good wine. Ralph’s writings and artwork -more so in his art- provide a window into his interesting sense of humor which some would call demented or strange -that’s what makes it so good. But it’s gonzo and there is something to be said when you look at his work or read a passage from his book.

He has even created artistic labels for the Denver brewing company, Flying Dog, and the labels have a great deal of Hunter in them. The labels resemble the art in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I assume that a major reason of the Hunter influence in these labels is that hunter lived in a small area near in Colorado not far from Denver.

So many people (I am included on certain topics) are extremely quick to state that someone else’s humor isn’t funny or that it is just too low brow and so on. The great thing is we all see things differently and what many people consider funny, or art for that matter, are not what the person right next to them would deem it to be. But I strongly encourage looking at the links provided to see what this art is about. It may not be pleasing to the eye but not all forms of art are created to render thoughts of beauty or comments like "wow the artist really used the colors in this well.

Examples of Ralph’s style and humor are revealed even when Ralph writes about his birth dubbed ‘Gonzo the Birth’ it opens with;
"At the moment of my birth and before the umbilical cord was cut I laid my first solid bowel movement into the hand of a gentle nurse…"
And
"Giuseppe Gonzaga, who had been present during my mother's titanic struggle. "Mama mia!" he exclaimed, "GONZO PURO!" which might have meant 'pure shit' or 'bad luck' as far as anybody knew"

He began collaborating with Hunter for the first time in 1970 on Hunter’s famous "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved", it’s short and worth the read as this is the first piece of gonzo journalism to ever be created. Their friendship grew and Ralph illustrated many of Hunter’s work like ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, ‘The Curse of Lono’ among other novels and many articles.

Steadman states that he is the only person that actually understands what Gonzo is and on his site explains that it is a simple equation that if you seek it you are seeking the good feeling from Gonzo. Again something that needs to be read better then explained.

He also hates the idea that cartoon animation and drawings today have "…been flogged to death. Electronic wizardry has devoured it, digested it and spat out the bits left stuck in its teeth." He states that this new form of ‘art’ is being passed off as entertainment in homes everywhere. If anything his work should inspire others to write and create art that challenges norms and unjust practices that affect us all.