Icons of British Satire, 15 - 12 September 2003  15 September – 12 October 2003

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Nicola Jennings - Bush and Blair give birth

Bush and Blair give birth 2003, Nicola Jennings
Bush and Blair give birth
after The Cholmondeley Ladies, British School c.1600/10
Nicola Jennings
Ink and watercolour, 2003
The Cholmondeley Ladies circa 1600-10, British School 17th Century. © Tate London, 2003
The Cholmondeley Ladies, circa 1600-10
British School 17th Century
© Tate London, 2003

This rare portrait, which doubles the image of mother and child, provides an opportunity to depict Bush and Blair together, also twinned but by their much more sinister offspring. The replacing of birth with death (or a child with a skull) is a gross distortion of the image's original meaning, which highlights the question over the legitimacy of their politics.

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