The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is very pleased to announce the opening of Caustic Ink: The Political Cartoons of Tom Toles on Friday, January 19 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. The exhibition will be on view through March 25 at the Burchfield-Penney, 3rd floor, Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College. A lecture with Tom Toles and Margaret Sullivan will take place at the museum on Saturday, January 27 at 2:00 p.m.

This exhibition features more than 100 cartoons from Toles’ tenure at The Buffalo News and is loosely organized around the topics of the environment, world affairs, politics, civil rights and the Star Wars program.

“After spending hours and hours in the archives of The Buffalo News researching work for this exhibition, one thing that struck me is the timelessness of Toles’ commentary,” said Don Metz, associate director / head of public programming at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center and organizer of this exhibition. “The issues Toles addressed from the earliest points in his career are as relevant today as the day they were published – only the names have changed.”

“Tom Toles knows the power of a good symbol. And he has known it for a long time… These days, and for decades now, Toles has made his living in the symbols business – as a political cartoonist for The Washington Post since 2002, and for 20 years before that, at The Buffalo News,” wrote Margaret Sullivan, editor of The Buffalo News in an essay published in the catalog accompanying this exhibition. “

“What truly distinguishes Tom Toles is not his spare drawing style, not his skewed humor, not the mini-Toles in the corner, not his politics, and not even his choice of subject matter. It is something larger: a sensibility driven more by language and ideas than by the urge for a quick visual laugh. And, most of all, what sets him apart is a searching, reform-minded intelligence all too rare not only in cartooning, but in all of journalism,” continued Sullivan.

Tom Toles and Margaret Sullivan will speak at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center on Saturday, January 27 at 2:00 p.m. On Sunday, February 18 at 2:00 p.m., Buffalo State College history professor Andrew Nicholls and Buffalo State English professor emeritus David Lampe will discuss the history of political cartooning. A 68 page catalog is being published to accompany the exhibition.

About the Burchfield-Penney Art Center

The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and distinguished artists of Buffalo Niagara and Western New York State. Through its affiliation with Buffalo State College, the museum encourages learning and celebrates our richly creative and diverse community. For more information, contact the Burchfield-Penney Art Center at 716 878 6011 or visit www.burchfield-penney.org.

The new 75,000 square foot Burchfield-Penney, designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008. The two-story building will be the Burchfield-Penney’s first free-standing home and have a major presence on Elmwood Avenue in the heart of Buffalo’s Museum District.

The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and Erie County. Additional operating support is provided by Buffalo State College, the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the James Carey Evans Endowment, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and charitable contributions by museum members and visitors. Media sponsor: Buffalo Spree.

Caustic Ink: The Political Cartoons of Tom Toles is supported by The Buffalo News, John and Susan Hoskins, The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Printing Prep Inc./Leader All-Surface Printing and the Buffalo State College Auxiliary Services Grant.