Satirical Artist John Holcroft Perfectly Captures Society’s Problems In His Brutally Honest Pieces

Issues in today’s society are a dime a dozen. The simplest examples are social media addiction, an ongoing pandemic, corruption, inequality and a lot of others. Most of us go through our daily lives without even noticing that these problems exist; it’s either were not aware they are happening to us, or we aren’t in situations wherein they occur.

Artist John Holcroft does however showcase and illustrates pressing issues in today’s world through his satirical and creative art. Holcroft lives in the U.K. and has been creating art pieces since 1996. His simplistic approach to his pieces hides a deeper, more complicated and realistic meaning behind each and every one of them. Through one illustration, he is able to portray such a serious and life threatening topic that is expounded through every one of his viewer’s eyes. Holcroft’s past clients included Telegraph, BBC, The Guardian, The Times and other notable corporations.

When asked where his inspiration comes from while he is creating his art and when he began, Holcroft said:

”I started illustrating professionally in 1996, originally studying graphic design in the early ’90s, but the recession made it impossible to find work especially as technology was going through a big change. I decided to illustrate using acrylics on board, which changed to digital in 2000. Having created a few different styles, I settled on my current style in 2010 and have been progressing ever since. I get my inspiration from observing life in general. I’ve always been an odd-ball and seen things differently so I think it shows in my work.”

As a freelance artist, Holcroft does a lot of commission work. He describes his art style as:

“My style is conceptual and can sometimes be satirical, but I can normally adapt to the brief I’m working on. The look of my style was originally supposed to emulate the old-style screen-print posters, but it has evolved in the last 10 years and nowadays, I try to keep it simple but hard-hitting.”

For Holcroft, he shares his art representing hard-hitting issues that are present in today’s world he is most passionate about:

“I’m not more passionate about issues than anyone else; however, I don’t like injustices of any kind so I usually focus my concepts on the things most people care about, such as corporate greed, climate change, and politics. If I had the power to change the world I would try to put an end to corrupt governments and corporate giants having control. I would make sure money is put in the right places, i.e.: tackling climate change and I would have a fairer system that cares for ordinary people.”

“I don’t set out to lampoon different parts of society and I’m not on a crusade to solve all problems of today. I’m an illustrator and it’s how I make my living so I need to create show pieces to attract work and the work I create has to resonate with people.”

What are people’s reactions when they see Holcroft’s art depicting current events?

“Most people appreciate the concepts in my work and give me positive feedback, whereas others either don’t quite get it or take great offence and give me grief. The point of my work is to get you thinking and discussing. Of course there will be those who disagree with my points and that’s fine because it keeps me in check.”