This exhibition presents the cartoons of Chris Joole.
Christiane Joole – Chris – was born in Ostend on November 24, 1949. Later, her family moved to Mortsel, and she studied visual arts at the Sint-Maria Institute in Antwerp. She married Eddy Franck, and together they built their future in Hove. As a teacher of visual education, she worked in secondary schools in Mortsel, Edegem, and Boechout.
A chance success at a local cartoon competition led her to start drawing cartoons under the name C. Joole—a deliberate choice to conceal her first name as a woman in a male-dominated world. Alongside her contemporary Josette (Janssens), they were often the only women in group photos surrounded by men. Even within the cartoonists’ association Kever, she was in the minority.
“To draw cartoons, you must first and foremost be able to draw and have a strong sense of humor. When people talk, their words become images for me, which I translate onto paper. I’m very critical of my own work and accept justified criticism from others. Harsh or overly sarcastic cartoons are not my style. You need to be able to put things into perspective, think positively, and feel happy in your surroundings. I also put myself in the shoes of the people being portrayed, which is why I rarely draw political cartoons or caricatures—they can hurt. It’s not always the pure cartoons—with the clean lines from my early days—that captivate me. Colorful pieces with a touch of veiled humor can also appeal to me,” Chris said in an interview with the cartoon magazine Scherper.
She valued the freedom to work in her own way and could not be persuaded to publish her work.
An idea would often linger in her mind for quite some time before she began sketching it out—starting with doodles and small drawings to develop the cartoon. From 1973 onward, she participated in competitions both in Belgium and abroad. After 2000, she became very selective and rarely entered contests.
Cartoonists Stefaan Provijn and Norbert Van Yperzeele explored Joole’s cartoons—donated to the ECC by her family—and curated a retrospective exhibition.
Awards
- 1973: 2nd Prize – Guldensporen Celebration, Mortsel
- 1975: Audience Award – Knokke-Heist
- 1978: 3rd Prize – VTB Antwerp (no 1st or 2nd prize awarded)
- 1982: 1st Prize – Education Cartoonale, Hasselt
- 1984: Best Female Cartoonist – Knokke-Heist
- 1985: Press Prize – Euro-kartoenale Kruishoutem
- 1986: 1st Prize – De Schelde, Bornem
- 1988: 1st Prize – Cartoonale Schelle
- 1988: 3rd Prize – George Van Raemdonck Cartoonale, Boechout
- 1992: 1st Prize – George Van Raemdonck Cartoonale, Boechout
In addition to these awards, she participated in cartoon exhibitions in Beringen, Sint-Truiden, Olen, Tienen, Hoelaart, and internationally in Amstelveen (Netherlands), Gabrovo (Bulgaria), Montréal (Canada), Warsaw and Legnica (Poland), and Bordighera (Italy).
