Zug / New York, 03.12.2020
Zug graphic artist wins US award once again
A caricature by the Zug graphic designer Urs J. Knobel has won an award in New York.
Honour for the Zug graphic artist and illustrator Urs J. Knobel: one of his works has again won an award from AI-AP in New York. ‘AI-AP’ stands for American Illustration and American Photography. Founded in the 1980s, AI-AP is now one of America's leading portals for illustration and photography, regularly presenting and awarding the best works by established and emerging newcomers.
The most convincing works have once again received awards as part of the "American Illustration 39": out of 7,000 submissions, 415 were selected for awards. Among those chosen is Urs J. Knobel's caricature of Boris Johnson. He portrays the British Prime Minister standing on his own head and above Big Ben. AI-AP interprets the caricature as meaning that the personality of the extremely pressurised politician is increasingly becoming a problem, to the point that he even becomes his own mortal enemy. The United Kingdom and the European Union, Brexit, Parliament – everything weighs heavily on him. But as the proportions in the illustration suggest, the problem doe not lie with Westminster Palace, but with Johnson himself.
Pictured left: Urs J. Knobel (with glasses) with Mark Heflin, editor and director of AI-AP. Picture right: Knobel's caricature of Boris Johnson is one of the award-winning works in 2020.
Picture: PD/Urs J. Knobel
The Johnson portrait by Knobel was presented in mid-November as part of the official presentation and exhibition of the best works, with the collection being published in book form.
Urs J. Knobel was born in Zug. He studied graphic design at the Lucerne Art School and then trained in London. He then worked as a graphic designer and art director at well-known agencies. Today, Knobel works as an illustrator, art director, graphic designer and painter.