The Artist Who Uses Humor To Illustrate Not-So-Funny Situations

Art should be a source of joy. It should make you feel content or amused. It should inspire empathy and understanding. It should make you smile. But most importantly, art doesn’t have to be serious or have grand ideals in order to be good.

Helping people realize this is what the artist Dennis Goris does best with his tongue-in-cheek humor illustrations for the everyday moments in life that we all go through – from realizing your bra straps are on show and you’re in public to having an awkward social interaction with your parent’s new partner at a family BBQ.

1. A lesson from capitalism

Do you remember how we wanted to be firefighters, nurses, and pilots when we were kids? Or how we wanted to be policemen and spies when we were teenagers? How about now, when some of us want to be billionaire astronauts like the man who just bought Twitter?

As we grow up, we learn that there are bills to be paid, student debts to be paid, and other financial obligations in life, so that dream career might have to be put off for a while. This mature humor illustration shows us the consequences of our naive desires.

2. On how much Siri and Alexa know about our lives…

We live in a world where people are tethered to their devices, and we’re not just talking about people who have smartphones. People with laptops, tablets and even smart speakers are all interacting with their digital devices on a daily basis. And all of that data is collected from what we do online.

We may have an opinion about this collection of data in the digital sphere, but when it comes down to the practical application for everyday life, we use our device’s electronic assistants to help us out, whether it’s our mobile phone or our smart speaker. This comic shows how our privacy is becoming less of an issue and more of a convenience.

3. A subtle reference to cicadas that appear every 17 years

These creatures, known as cicadas, live underground for 17 years before they come out to the surface and are visible to us.

At this time, they’re also known to make some pretty loud and high-pitched noises that can be heard from miles away. But once their short period of mating is over, these creatures will die off. This comic makes a sly reference to an awkward moment when we realize how much time has changed things.