Letter Carrier 

Editor: This is Jack Davis' "Letter Carrier," a pen drawing that appears to be from a personal sketchbook. I find the cartoonish exaggeration and almost frantic energy really captivating. What social commentary, if any, do you think is embedded in this playful piece? Curator: Well, it is interesting to see a caricatured representation of a service role like the letter carrier. Davis has certainly taken cues from traditions of political cartoons and advertising art. How does it affect your reading to think about what societal values were circulating that allowed a mainstream humor to target such a working-class role? Editor: That's a great point. The humor definitely punches *down*. So, this is from a sketchbook – what do we know about Davis, and what cultural functions did sketchbooks have? Were they primarily for personal use, or did they circulate? Curator: Jack Davis was known for his illustrations in *Mad* magazine. We have to remember the sociopolitical function of periodicals like *Mad* – spaces for counter-narratives, social commentary, even resistance to authority, however gently done. Davis worked at the intersection of commerce and critique, and even though we see it in a personal sketchbook, it reflects how visual language was used to engage with social issues in broader popular culture. Editor: It's like he's playing with this public role in his own private sphere. Are we meant to sympathize with the overworked carrier or laugh at the caricature of him? It is difficult to untangle the complex layering of public expectation versus the individual identity here. Curator: Precisely. That tension speaks to the inherent duality of art’s function as both personal expression and cultural artifact. Editor: I’ll never look at a simple drawing the same way again! Thanks!