Society is full of contradictions. It’s all about appearances, fake expectations, and egotistical idealism. To counter that dissonance, Celeste Mountjoy’s humorous illustrations are full of critique of our modern world. World leaders are exposed and ridiculed to express decadence in politics as well as the disillusion from the younger generation.


Relationships are also placed in an uncomfortable spot in order to dissect the illusion of perfection. The idea of a perfect indestructible love comes with the simplification of people and their emotions. As words become more ambiguous, love runs the risk of turning into any other, like on Facebook.


Censorship, feminism, and society’s lack of depth are not safe from Mountjoy’s commentary. Sarcasm is right and at the center of these images, highlighting ironies that seem to be part of a joke nobody is getting.


Stereotypes are confronted and questioned, particularly the halo of perfection that weighs heavy on the shoulders of women. As a response against the narrative pressuring women to be smiling, glamorous, and willing to please at all times, Celeste’s work accurately uncovers an entire generation’s illusions, implanted thoughts, and dreams of changing the world while not being sure how exactly to do so.


The ideals of love, friendship, perfection, romance, beauty, and life itself clash against dark humor. This bizarre comedy is able to crush the ideals of those who like being permanently deceived. Mountjoy uses simple sketches and drawings to show how pathetic human beings can be in their search for identity, acceptance, and a good reason to maintain a ridiculous optimism to smile when observing a horizon that gets darker and darker each day.


Among the different human activities that are slowing succumbing to the fast-paced modern world is eroticism. This part of the human condition is disappearing with the practice of sex becoming a merely mechanical and biological action.


Celeste Mountjoy helps us laugh at our own absurdities while making us aware of how our modern world distorts reality and changes our intuitive perceptions.

Check out more of Celeste Mountjoy’s Illustrations here.
Translated by María Suárez
