<i>Gin Lane</i> in Lockdown: Cold War Steve’s Hogarth

Abstract

British satirist Christopher Spencer, aka Cold War Steve, is renowned for his surreal satirical photomontages in which historical artworks form the backdrops for contemporary British notables in grotesque situations. Contemporary critics have frequently compared Cold War Steve to the eighteenth-century British satirist and engraver, William Hogarth. This article probes the visual and moral parallels between the two artists, showing that, despite repeated invocations, Hogarth only becomes a salient intermedial presence at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Focusing on images from 2020 to 2021 that explicitly use Hogarth as source media, this article argues that Spencer’s remediations appropriate and overwrite eighteenth-century didacticism, drawing attention to the mediatedness of history and culture. Reading Hogarth as a source enhances interpretive readings of Cold War Steve, reflecting the increased cultural importance of the Enlightenment in understanding the present. The article shows how Hogarth continues to provide an influential visual grammar and moral register for visual satire in the post-pandemic age, even as contemporary artists challenge and contest his work.