This Artist Illustrates Modern Society’s Problems, And Here Are 30 New Illustrations
Interview With ArtistIn the modern world where our countries, cities, and society evolve so rapidly, you would expect any problem to be easily solved. However, the issues we face usually grow with us and are ever-changing. Talented artist Alireza Pakdel illustrates such sensitive topics in his art and does a great job of making the viewer stop and think for a second.
Pakdel’s heartfelt illustrations have amassed quite a following on social media with people admiring how relevant and sentimental they feel. Bored Panda has posted about the artist’s work in the past: part 1, part 2. Today we want to take a look and unpack the newest art pieces by Alireza.
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A piece of you is always left behind. The horrors of war take a part of you that can never be fully replaced.
And still romantizing war and making your country proud
Load More Replies...Hard to "Be All That You Can Be" when a part of you will never make it home.
They try to put up a good front for the sake of their family but in reality they are falling apart. Many veterans and active duty personnel don't have the access to mental health care they need.
I don't think it's about access. I think it's more about the stigmas surrounding mental health. If you get help you're weak. This is even more true for male soldiers. I'm Glad a lot more people are speaking out about these problems.
Load More Replies...The thing about this too, a lot of times it's the thinking you got out okay. That you have little to no symptoms of PTSD, you eval out fine. Civilian life acclimation feels smooth. Then after time being back with your family you start to notice they treat you different. Or that you feel like they are acting different. You feel like things have gotten different between the people you've been away from. In time you think that maybe they are treating you differently, maybe they think topics and certain things may affect you. Then you go to thinking that maybe the people around you have changed, and sometimes this will go on forever. Or sometimes people bring it to your attention that it's you, to which you will originally deny. Thinking because you don't feel differently that it has to be everyone else, but in time you find out that it has been you all along.
Repeatedly sent my hubby off to war for 25 years. It never gets easier. But homecomings are always special.
When asked about his creative process, the artist says: “Sometimes ideas come to my mind suddenly and I immediately start working and bring the idea to paper but sometimes I research about an idea and I check the sources and collect information via photos and videos and after that, I start working. About my technique, I sketch on paper and then color by Procreate or Photoshop.” It usually takes Pakdel about a day to finish one of his illustrations.
Faith is the death of reason... Ie he makes a cross instead of paddling with the oars
Load More Replies...“God helps those who help themselves,” is not in the Bible anywhere, so where did it actually come from? I’m glad you asked. Well, it’s in the Koran for one. This is what it says: “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a person until they change what is in themselves.” But before the Koran was written, it appears in a first century A.D. Greek fable, where a wagon falls into a ravine, but when its driver appeals to Hercules for help, he is told to get to work himself. What a lousy God Hercules turned out to be.
Load More Replies...A woman has to work harder than a man to get the same amount of respect
Load More Replies...Men are keeping women, from achieving their goals. Notice that the woman is running AWAY from the "end" (her goals and aspirations) while the men are in hot pursuit to prevent it from happening. The men are not sweating, they are angry and determined. It's the woman, who is sweating. It's a very accurate portrayal of real life.
Oooo, hot take. So, at face value this of course hits the mark. In business do women have a longer finish line? Yes, but they have a shorter start. Look at jobs outside of corporate businesses(I know, it's crazy there's jobs out there people have to work that aren't instantly a mid high paying desk job) are women working most labor jobs? No, they don't have to. Look at application docking for these jobs it's 80% men applying. Men have to, they have to have experience elsewhere a man and a woman can apply for the same mid tier job with no experience and the woman will be considered first. They don't discriminate in labor and low paying jobs, especially now. That start of career race is longer for men, the end is shorter. The start of career for women is shorter, but the end is longer. Which again, hot take. Also this is going by statistics businesses with both labor and desk jobs within it. It's just crazy to me that people only focus on upper corporate businesses.
Women have to work twice as hard and still don’t get paid as much by men with way less experience…
We wondered if Pakdel ever has struggles coming up with new ideas, to which he replied: “Every cartoonist deals with creative block, and I'm not an exception to this rule. So in these times I stop working and I relax, play with my son or take care of my plants. Distracting myself from the subject or doing various things turns on my mind's engine.”
He's the reality of peoples' lives, as opposed to what everyone posts on social media, which is only the good stuff with much of it staged to look better than it is.
Load More Replies...Not being in the moment. Having to see important moments as a picture' or playback and not capturing life treasures through the lenses God gave us.
It's an old woman all alone wringing her hands. I think it's making a statement about how technology has brought some of us together but also causes more isolation for others.
I think the person in the window represents the Russian people who are now cutoff from the rest of the world, and who now cannot have the joys that other people around the word are experiencing - but that is just my immediate guess. :-)
While a nice sentiment, the original was posted 6 weeks ago on the artist's Instagram.
Load More Replies...The isolation of being from an older gen in a new age....I need to go hug my grandma🥺
Behind the tough exterior, soldiers are human. They want peace just like all of us. The Kremlin are acting on Putin's order, not of their own will.
To those that don't know, not all countries function like the West. Some countries do conscription. The government simply orders you into the armed forces. Refusal may be seen as treason and punished with jail time (gulag), for you or your family, or the firing squad. So how do you choose?.
Load More Replies...I love all the bitching about Ukraine. Not on peep about Putin's slaughter in Chechnya. I guess white non Muslims matter.
Fox "news" is NOT a reliable news source. They LITERALLY are an entertainment corporation, who like to spread conspiracy theories and lies to promote right wing propaganda. When you mentioned Fox news as a source, you lost all credibility.
Load More Replies...Putin is not at war? What do you call bombing homes and invading foreign countries? Wake up! He wants his Soviet Union back because he could not stop the disintegration in the KGB. Why are all media except the state media banned in Russia? Ukraine is not more corrupt than any other state in its own way. It is a democracy! The people have elected this leadership and no one has the right to take this choice away from the people! Democracy.... Something Russia will probably never really understand. Too bad. Illuminati? Come on! I will not comment on this fairy tale....
Load More Replies...What the heck is 'the cabal'? Do you honestly believe this stuff? How embarrassing for your family. Are you schizophrenic? If you haven't had a diagnosis yest can I suggest you get yourself to a psychiatrist ASAP
Load More Replies...Every great creator needs someone to look up to for inspiration. The artist says: “Quino, an Argentinean cartoonist, inspires me. I really like his cartoons. But I have always tried to stay true to my personal style and I work hard to achieve my unique style.”
I see it like this. The soldiers are sent to fight a war. They don't want to be there and would rather have peace. So I they're all say "eff it all" ,disobeying orders, and doing what the want to do...hang with friends both new and old. Reminds of some song lyrics. "Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war. Why should they go out to fight, they leave that all to the poor."
Yes and after they shed their uniforms you can't tell which side they fought for anymore, just humans enjoying life.
Load More Replies...Underneath the uniforms, the things that set us apart, we are all just human beings. Nothing more, nothing less.
Looks like opposing armies coming to an agreement! Everyone relaxing, sun, birds, water. Peace.
"If only, if only, " the woodpecker sighs "The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies, " As the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely He cries to the moo-oo-oon, "If only, if only" - Fiction Plane
Seriously. When russian came on my land to vanish my nation you think that somehow we can embrace one another and sing tumbaya??? Are you serious? Are you crazy?
I beg to differ. I bet many Ukrainians would as well, also victims of gun violence, domestic violence etc etc
Load More Replies...Maybe she is reflecting on the type of mother she is to her son and how she is going to explain these circumstances to him as he gets older, while wondering what kind of impact they will have on him. He's so innocent as a young child. All the while he adores his mother but she doesn't feel like a good mother at all. The two roses represent the love that they have for each other (maybe she got those for him to remind him that love will get them through this.) Or, maybe, those 2 roses represent they will both likely die and there is nothing she can do about it.
When asked about future plans, Pakdel says: “I have some important goals for my work and my most important goals are publishing my book, organizing various exhibitions around the world on the subject of immigration, corona, and current social issues and also producing some short animations of my ideas.”
The care, effort, and tears we put into the earth can grow it back. It's never to late to turn around and stop pollution!
One man can only make so much grow with his tears. If the world cried together, we would live in plenty
Stop destroying the earth now, or we’ll be so desperate we’ll only have our tears to use to sow seeds.
Our memories are embellishments of reality; the reality does not compare to them.
This is actually on display at Tienanmen square in Beijing, they have a huge TV wall that show the same scenic, but with blue sky. So big that you can use it as background for your picture under the polutate sky.
Cause she's living / In the love of the common people / Smiles from the heart of a family man / Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to / Mama's gonna love you / Just as much as she can
Weird. The one above is about feminism and then there is this one with such a traditional rolemodel.
I interpreted as refugees or immigrants from difficult backgrounds forging their way to a better life for their families.
Load More Replies...The men of Ukraine are carrying the weight of the war so their wives and children can escape to a better place. The men are staying behind to ultimately protect their country during this difficult season so their families will have a country with a bright future to return to.
Cowards. Running from the problem instead of standing up for themselves and fixing the problem.
I saw this and thought: Oh Yeah, he's about to shoot himself in the foot. Works in both ways.
This is referring back to when Putin did that photoshoot of him trying to look macho shield being shirtless and wearing military looking pants. One photo had hi on a horse, another catching fish, another wearing cool shades, etc. So, in this pic, putin is using the soldier to kill peace
Yes friend- im sure that's what everyone was thinking when they saw this comic😏
Load More Replies...Yes, and all of the efforts the "ordinary" people make to save the environment while the wealthy few happily jet around the world, producing more CO2 and wasting precious resources then the rest of us combined.
Load More Replies...Resorts in the middle of Africa that dig deep wells so that large bathtubs can be filled and the wells for drinking for the residents run dry. Disgusting!
In Africa and also in California. Dubai. Everywhere really
Load More Replies...Reminds me of all those outrageously expensive resorts in Dubai.
my first thought (because of the right man outfit), with the dead sea and the jordan
Load More Replies...rich people think that brick walls are enough to protect them from those they exploit.
ahh! that many trees have died i think, that's why they r wearing masks and its all smoggy
Even in cartoons they wear their masks wrong. Like, how hard is it? "I have a breathing problem" the people in the next zip code that hear you screaming about freedom and microchips for 5 minutes straight without taking a single breath don't believe you ken.
Why do they need masks if they are in lockdown, inside, and live together??
Load More Replies...I have no idea what this one means. It looks like they're in lockdown but they're wearing their masks wrong and he's drawing some trees...?
Lockdown in a tinny space where you cannot even see a tree from the distance. Like many people on crowded cities
Load More Replies...We'll be free to live safely once lockdowns START.
Load More Replies...I don't see this as karma. The wildlife protector's hands are in handcuffs...his hands "are tied" in chains. An impending death awaits him. The wildlife is trying to protect him, but they can't. If the man is killed, the wildlife will be as well.
The wild life ranger is bound and can't stop the death and possible/eventual extinction of these endangered animals. Imho
Load More Replies...This is in reference to the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 that was shot down shortly after take-off from Teheran on 8th January 2020, all 176 people on board died, there were no survivors. It was during the Persian Gulf crisis, the Iranian government admitted they shot it down, claim they mistook it for a missile although it's been suspected to be in retaliation for the death of IRCG General Qasem Suleimani by US forces.
what about we take a look around and find something to do that might actually help
Load More Replies...I believe this is a reference to Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which was shot down right after taking off from an Iranian airport. All 176 passengers and crew were killed. It's worth mentioning that the cartoonist is Iranian.
Load More Replies...I'm not gonna guess what this one means. First thing I thought was that dude ate family.
This represents Putin who is willing to pursue power at the cost of his own people. The Russians will ultmately pay the cost of his power grab. The sanctions will hurt ordinary people. He's got his people "under his belt" as they say.
I think this was separated from its context with the other fox and raven cartoons. I think it's trying to say something about law enforcement
Perhaps it's trying to represent man's misguided attempts to control nature and outlaw what it doesn't like or understand.
Our Lord does not part oceans. We will need to become boat people instead. God help us.
karens, anti-vaxxers, wake up. the world will not change if you do not accept, understand, and thrive to change it.
I think the person in both drawings is a frontline healthcare worker. This is saying the worst is over for frontline health workers. They are having hope that their miserabe season of Covid, long hours, despair is over. Or, maybe it's saying that those who mask up and are vaccinated get to experience more freedom and ability to return to more normality from Covid while the unvaccinated still have the pandemic hanging over their head.
Nature tries to self correct regularly. Some things die off for a good reason. Some things we shouldn't fight so hard to protect. If you get my meaning.
Except tree growth occurs at the ends of branches only, not from the base.
Load More Replies...This one strongly depends on where the intended audience of this cartoon is. In North America, Mute Swans are invasive. They bully and kill native waterfowl, destroying their nests and pecking their eggs. They were introduced to N. America by rich people who wanted their private lakes to look more european, but it's caused an enormous mess. Hunting of them is encouraged as a means to restore natural order. It's also worth noting that one of the strongest groups fighting to protect waterfowl and their habitats in general is supported by hunters.
True. In my area there are Master Hunter programs that require many hours of service helping to restore and preserve waterfowl habitat.
Load More Replies...But still wear a mask to show your willingness to fight against COVID!
Load More Replies...This reminds me of the Holocaust when some Nazis would help the Jews, cats being Nazis and the rats/mice being the Jews
The job sometimes forces us to do exactly the opposite of what we actually want to do.
Rats are very cute and are very smart. Not every animal has to help humans
Load More Replies...I'm not sure I get this one. Can someone explain? Is it that the enemy is bringing them to greener pastures somehow? Is he not such a bad wolf after all? Or is it a trick to fatten them up? Or am I just TOTALLY lost?
I think it means that just because someone helps someone else, doesn't mean they aren't going to hurt them or that they have their best interest in mind. The wolf helps the sheep, but once they are across and away from the shepherd he will eat them.
Load More Replies...I think this means that when someone seems like a enemy even when they try to help them they aren’t trusted because of bias.
So true, and sad that the world is like this.
Load More Replies...g̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶o̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶i̶l̶l̶,̶ ̶e̶h̶?̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶,̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶😞 *edit: you can ignore my comment, I found out that I didn't understand the actual meaning behind this image. You can see @Ellie 's comment below for the meaning :)*
He only pays once, but has many shoes shined. That's called exploitation.
Politician hiring someone to to the dirty job as usual
Load More Replies...The headboard is the viewing panel for a woman wearing a burka. His hair is down, he's naked, he's got a gun, and rights. I don't know if this means she is watching over him, or if she's trapped behind the burka and has no rights.
He can let his guard down and be himself, while she's trapped in the same role and nothing more than a thing to make him feel comfortable?
Load More Replies...I think it's a Taliban and the frame of the bed looks like a burqa? And he's there naked without the turban even while women are forced to cover up?
I think they are made to be open to interpretation.
Load More Replies...Really did not need the explanation below each one. I like to figure these things out on my own and it's hard not to read the first comment when scrolling.🤷
Men and women are EQUAL, or at least should be. Currently, men get paid more than women and in some undeveloped countries, they have much more freedom, although in developed countries, it's harder to tell whether men or women are better off, but it's definitely one or the other. Men get paid more and there are a lot of sexist people who respect them more, but there's a lot going for women as well, like how they aren't expected to act as "tough" and aren't judged as much for certain things. Also, most major criminals and evil people in the past have been men, so whenever a crime is committed, men are the first suspects, even though women are equally capable of doing it.
Load More Replies...I think they are made to be open to interpretation.
Load More Replies...Really did not need the explanation below each one. I like to figure these things out on my own and it's hard not to read the first comment when scrolling.🤷
Men and women are EQUAL, or at least should be. Currently, men get paid more than women and in some undeveloped countries, they have much more freedom, although in developed countries, it's harder to tell whether men or women are better off, but it's definitely one or the other. Men get paid more and there are a lot of sexist people who respect them more, but there's a lot going for women as well, like how they aren't expected to act as "tough" and aren't judged as much for certain things. Also, most major criminals and evil people in the past have been men, so whenever a crime is committed, men are the first suspects, even though women are equally capable of doing it.
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