Cold War Steve, AKA Christopher Spencer, is an artist from Birmingham who has been making surreal, satirical and hilarious photomontage art since 2016.
He has received commissions from the National Galleries of Scotland, Whitworth Gallery in Manchester and the Birmingham Museum and Gallery. Christopher’s work has been exhibited on giant billboard installations at Glastonbury Festival and on the cover of TIME magazine.
A feature length documentary – Cold War Steve Meets The Outside World – was made with Bafta winning director Kieran Evans and was released in October 2020 on Sky Arts.
Steve Wilson : How effective is art – and satire in particular – at alerting the public to the dangers of far-right extremism?
I feel that art – of any form – has always been very powerful at highlighting the threat posed by the far-right. I am hugely influenced by John Heartfield, an artist who made anti-Nazi photomontages in 1930’s Germany. He was a pioneer of using art as a weapon and, in doing so, placed himself in immense danger; he had to evade capture by the SS and escaped to what was then Czechoslovakia. His work was visually striking, carrying the gravest of messages, but also highly satirical and funny.
Even today there is something gratifying in laughing at the absurdity of some of narcissistic sociopaths we have to endure. That is what I try to do with my photomontages; create something that stands out and grabs people’s attention as they scroll through social media. Art alone will of course never be enough and there are very brave people who take to the streets to stand up to nazis and the far right.
Valerie Chaplin : What do you think of Labour politics and the state of the UK at present?
Starmer has been a huge disappointment so far. Yes of course, they inherited a skip full of shit (that was on fire) after 14 years of the Conservatives, but it seems he is more concerned with winning over Reform voters than sticking to election promises. It’s obviously a tough job, especially in the circumstances, but it’s awful to see the Labour government lurching ever further right, with the poorest and most vulnerable in society being punished.
I was never a massive fan of Starmer, but I didn’t think that I would have to focus on him in my work quite so much, quite so soon.
David Eldridge : Who are your favourite politicians or personalities to depict?
It is a blessing and a curse to be doing what I do at this point in history. On the one hand I am desperately worried for the future of my three daughters – and would give up my career as Cold War Steve in a heartbeat to go back to pre-Brexit, pre-Trump times. On the other hand, I have so much material to work with and my anger will drive my work for years to come.
There is also an abundance of grotesque characters with which to work. I don’t have a favourite, but I do enjoy creating naked Trump and Ketamine guzzling Musk.
It is important to take a break from all of them when I can to be honest. Boris Johnson’s face became too much for me after a bit. Literally looking at him all day long for months. I was grateful to see the back of him on every level.
Anon : When many are leaving Musk’s ‘X’ to avoid the extremism, what would you recommend? Leave the platform for woker waters or stay and fight back?
I did toy with the idea of abandoning Twitter last year. However, I thought fuck it. Fuck him. Twitter is where I made my name, where my art first broke through with an audience. It always had unsavoury elements, but it gave me the opportunity to share my work and gain an audience – bypassing the impregnable and unfathomable ‘artworld’. I guess I think it is important that I still post on there, even though my work gets a fraction of the views it used to get pre-Musk algorithms. Feels like a small form of resistance I suppose.
What I do miss is the interaction with my audience. I built up so many friends over the years and always enjoyed reading their comments. During the dark days of post-Brexit referendum and then Covid, it was so comforting to hear from like-minded individuals, who were equally as dismayed and angry as I was. I do not read comments on Twitter anymore. It’s too distressing. People with actual ‘British Union of Fascists’ logos as their profile picture. I mean, WTF?
Helen Johnston : If you were PM with a large majority, what would be your priorities in the current political climate?
This is going to sound ridiculously idealistic and simplistic, but I would do whatever it takes to make a fairer society; tax the rich, reverse Brexit, stop the demonising of immigrants, the elderly and disabled. I don’t think it is too much to ask.
Trying to rebuild some of the damage done to politics. To reestablish faith in good politicians, political parties and democracy. I hear from too many people how they have given up hope completely, I worry people feel that the whole system should be inherently distrusted and at worst completely demolished. The status quo is shit, but how do we start to build something different? I suppose that is the big one.
Terry Haines : There are a lot of artists who do photo montage satirical work. Do you and they worry about AI being used by non-artists making your efforts redundant? What is the solution?
I am a staunch ‘non-AI’ artist. I use actual photographs, taken by a human being. The advancements in AI imagery are insane, but I find they all lack any detailed nuance. It’s a realistic picture of Trump crying, holding a cat or something. I always feel an image is more powerful if it has a sort of punk ‘DIY’ human quality. Or a background of a 1970’s Working Men’s Club!
Zack Polanski is Deputy Leader of the Green Party and a member of the London Assembly. Before politics, Zack was a former theatre actor and worked on Erasmus with young activists from all over Europe. Zack is currently running to be the next leader of the Green Party.
If you would like to submit a question(s) for Zack, please email us no later than Monday 9 June.
