Iceland review - 2015, Page 22

20 ICELAND REVIEW
BY ELLIOTT BRANDSMA. CARTOONS BY HALLDÓR BALDURSSON.
POLITICS IN PICTURES
When Halldór Baldursson was a child, he made
a habit of drawing funny pictures of his teach-
ers for his classmates’ amusement. He never
imagined that one day his penchant for drawing comical
cartoons would become his full-time career.
FROM NEWSPAPER TO GALLERY
“Drawing cartoons has always been part of my personality,”
Halldór explains. “As I grew up, though, I began to see this
dream as unrealistic, so I decided that I would become either
an architect or a graphic designer. I studied at Myndlista- og
Halldór Baldursson, one of Iceland’s most prolific political cartoonists,
talks about his new exhibition at Reykjavík City Library.
handíðaskóli Íslands [which later became part of the Iceland
Academy of the Arts]. I majored in graphic art and was well
on my way to becoming a graphic designer when my old
dream from school hit me again.”
Shortly after finishing his studies, Halldór secured a steady
job with Icelandic business newspaper Viðskiptablaðið, where
he still contributes a weekly cartoon. “I actually just submit-
ted my 1,000th cartoon for them,” he reports with pride. “I
have been a full-time political cartoonist since 2005. After
working for a couple of years at 24 Stundir, which was later
incorporated into Morgunblaðið, I moved over to Fréttablaðið.”
Halldór, who is known for his irreverent depictions of
In response to the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. The cartoon was produced for
the Icelandic Bar Association for the ‘day of law’ on which freedom
of expression was discussed.