Spitting Image exhibition opens at Cambridge University Library
Today marks the opening of a major exhibition of the Fluck and Law satirical TV puppetry show Spitting Image at the Cambridge University Library. The exhibition, curated by Head of Exhibitions and Public Programmes at Cambridge University Library, Dr. Christopher Burgess, explores the shows development and impact, and is the chance to get up-close and personal with some of the show’s most iconic puppets and see never-before-seen sketches, caricatures and other memorabilia drawn from the Spitting Image archive.
Roger Law with Margaret Thatcher puppet. Image courtesy of the University Library.
In 2018, Roger Law and Peter Fluck handed over the Spitting Image archive to the University Library, via HM’s Government Cultural Gifts Scheme, noting that it has “ended up exactly where it belongs”. Cambridge is synonymous with Spitting Image; Roger was born in Cambridgeshire, he and Peter met whilst studying at Cambridge School of Art, and the first studio they had was in the city.
Through a display made up from the University Library collection and on loan from other institutions “…visitors will see how Peter Fluck and Roger Law’s ‘cartoonist eye’ used puppets to satirise life in the UK and how few in British public life were left unscathed. The exhibition explores the ongoing relevance of satire, the use of art to speak truth to power, and questions if mocking those who seek to rule really does make a difference.” (Excerpt taken from the University Library website)
The exhibition is open from 30th September 2023 – 17th February 2024. Tickets are free and more information can be found here.
For BBC Radio 4 listeners, you may have heard the recent Spitting Image episode of The Reunion with Kirsty Wark, featuring Roger Law and Peter Fluck, alongside producers Jon Blair and John Lloyd, writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, puppeteer Louise Gold, voice artists Chris Barrie and Steve Nallon, and Central Television commissioner Charles Denton. Listen to the episode here.
Life after Spitting Image…
Emus Running © Roger Law, Etching, Edition 22, 27cm x 40cm £450 unframed. View work here
After wrapping up Spitting Image, Roger Law moved to Australia to pursue artistic endeavours of a different sort – painting, drawing and ceramics – depicting the wildlife he encountered with his characteristic playful style. On returning to the UK, Roger moved to the North-Norfolk coast where he lives and works today. In 2020, amidst the pandemic, Roger worked on a new Spitting Image TV series and earlier this year a musical production of the show took to the West End.
Fen Ditton Gallery have held a longstanding relationship with Roger, exhibiting his work for the first time in Cambridge in our Birds exhibition in June 2019, and most recently in Art and Rivers (October 2022). The highlight of the Birds exhibition was Roger’s 143 x 197cm Fogg Dam Tapestry created in collaboration with Factum Arte from an original watercolour Early Morning – Fogg Dam.
Roger Law with Fogg Dam Tapestry, exhibition as part of Fen Ditton Gallery’s Birds exhibition in June 2019.
We are delighted to have available to purchase the tapestry and a selection of original prints by Roger Law. For a full list of available works, visit fendittongallery.com/roger-law. For purchase enquiries or to book an appointment to view, contact Hannah on info@fendittongallery.com.
