Christopher Madden was born in 1952 in Durham in the north of England where his mother’s family was part of the coal mining community. His father, who was Irish, repaired aircraft for the Ministry of Defence.
After spending several years in the UK’s Scientific Civil Service working on the development stage of the Thames Barrier he left to become a professional cartoonist.
He is now concentrating on his work in other artistic fields.
He lives in London.
Exhibitions include:
- ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London (2024)
- Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery (2024)
- Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery (2023)
- Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Cornwall (Solo show) (2022)
- Shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2022)
- Penwith Gallery, St Ives (2020)
- London Group Open, London (2019)
- London Group Open, London (2017)
- National Open Art Exhibition, London (2016)
- Shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2016)
- Centerprise, Kingsland High Street, London (1985)
- Centerprise, Kingsland High Street, London (1982)
His cartoon work has featured in exhibitions including:
- Maison Bertaux, Soho, London (2024)
- Charing Cross Library, Charing Cross Road, London (2023)
- Musée d’Orsay, Paris, in a presentation/performance by Isabella Rossellini (2021)
- Oxo Tower, London (2021)
- Cells Gallery, Devonport Guildhall,Plymouth (2018)
- Charing Cross Library, Charing Cross Road, London (2018)
- Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury (2018)
- Westminster Reference Library, Westminster, London (2017)
- William Heath Robinson Museum, Pinner, London (2017)
- Chris Beetles Gallery, London (2016)
- Cartoon Museum, London (2015)
- Cobb Gallery, London (2014)
- Richard Goodall Gallery, Manchester (2013)
- Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury (2013)
- Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (2008)
- Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery (2008)
- Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury (2008)
- Cartoon Museum, London (2006)
- Association of Illustrators annual exhibition, London (1987)
- Association of Illustrators annual exhibition, London (1986)
His work is informed by a keen interest in environmental issues, philosophy and science.
His interest in the environment, which started in his teens in the late 1960s, resulted in a book of his cartoons on the subject, When Humans Roamed the Earth, being published by WWF (the World Wildlife Fund) in 1991, and another book, The Beast That Ate The Earth, being published in 1996.
His work as a cartoonist and illustrator featured regularly in the Guardian newspaper in the 1980s and 1990s and in BBC science magazines in the 2000s. He was the resident cartoonist in Philosophy Now magazine for many years from the 1990s and was a regular contributor to the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
His work appears in numerous educational and academic publications by publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Open University Press, Nature and more.
His work has appeared in magazines and newspapers including Punch, Private Eye, Prospect, the Spectator, the Critic, New Statesman and Daily Telegraph.
He contributed a weekly cartoon on gardening to the Irish Sunday Independent newspaper for over twenty years.
Some of his cartoon work is in the permanent collection of the Cartoon Museum, London
A selection of his cartoon work can be seen here.
