Meet the men behind the cartoons. From left to right: Nicholas Garland, John Jensen, Martin Rowson and Wally Fawkes. Photo © University of Kent

The Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature at the University of Kent has kicked off its summer show Meet the Cartoonists and it’s more than just a two-dimensional exhibition.

Running until July 20 2005, it focuses on the work of four contemporary British newspaper cartoonists – Wally Fawkes, John Jensen, Nicholas Garland and Martin Rowson – and features a range of their original work from the centre’s archive, dating from the 1940s to the present day.

However, it is not simply an exhibition of framed cartoons. Most of us are familiar with the comic strips that appear in our daily newspapers, but the cartoonists behind them are not so recognisable.

Now, thanks to a £1,000 grant from the South East Museum, Library and Archive Council, visitors can see what they look like.

"We have commissioned life-sized self-portraits from the four artists to bring them down off the walls and into the gallery," explained Nick Hiley, head of the centre. "This means visitors can meet the cartoonists, if not in the flesh then at least in pen and ink."

The four cartoonists have worked for a wide range of publications, but Wally Fawkes (“Trog”) is mostly closely associated with the Daily Mail and Punch, John Jensen the Sunday Telegraph, Nicholas Garland the Daily Telegraph, and Martin Rowson The Guardian, The Times and the Daily Mirror.

Not looking very animated: Wally Fawkes ("Trog") Photo © University of Kent

The Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature is a library, archive, gallery and registered museum. It is dedicated to the history of British cartooning over the last 200 years and proves that political and social comment is certainly not a new thing.

The four cartoonists in this exhibition have close associations with the centre and there are 14,000 images of their work in its database. The Centre’s archive contains some 90,000 original drawings by another 350 British cartoonists.

Emily Sands is the 24 Hour Museum Renaissance Student Writer in the South Eastern region. Renaissance is the groundbreaking initiative to transform England's regional museums, led by MLA, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.