David Dees

{{Short description|American graphic artist and conspiracy theorist (1957–2020)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = David Eugene Dees

| birth_date = {{birth date|1957|07|09}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|05|31|1957|07|09}}

| known_for = Art depicting conspiracy theories

| website = {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20200802091513/https://ddees.com/|name=DDees.com}} (archived August 2, 2020)

}}

David Eugene Dees (July 9, 1957 – May 31, 2020){{cite web |title=David Dees Obituary - Medford, OR |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/medford-or/david-dees-9206135 |website=Dignity Memorial |access-date=2 January 2024 |language=en-us}} was an American commercial artist and graphic designer, known for his digital art depicting conspiracy theories. He began creating this type of art around 2003 after seeing photos of 9/11 that were used by conspiracy theorists.{{Cite web |date=2015-07-17 |title=How a Sesame Street Illustrator Became the Truther Scene's Golden Boy |url=http://internet.gawker.com/how-a-sesame-street-illustrator-became-the-truther-scen-1717488190 |access-date=2024-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717152633/http://internet.gawker.com/how-a-sesame-street-illustrator-became-the-truther-scen-1717488190 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 }}

Prominent themes in his artwork include chemtrails, anti-vaccine activism, climate change denial, Holocaust denial, as well as the promotion of GMO conspiracy theories, 9/11 conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories regarding the danger of wireless devices, and the Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory.{{cite web |last1=Seitz |first1=Dan |title=David Dees: Conspiracy Theory Meets Art, Courtesy of the Internet |url=http://uproxx.com/feature/david-dees-conspiracy-theory-meets-art-courtesy-of-the-internet/ |website=Uproxx |access-date=2 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406033550/http://uproxx.com/feature/david-dees-conspiracy-theory-meets-art-courtesy-of-the-internet/|archive-date=6 April 2016|url-status=dead}} He was particularly drawn to the belief that Zionists control the media.{{Cite web |date=2015-07-17 |title=How a Sesame Street Illustrator Became the Truther Scene's Golden Boy |url=http://internet.gawker.com/how-a-sesame-street-illustrator-became-the-truther-scen-1717488190 |access-date=2024-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717152633/http://internet.gawker.com/how-a-sesame-street-illustrator-became-the-truther-scen-1717488190 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 }}

David Dees was the subject of the short documentary Do You See What I See?{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Ben |title=How One Artist Became a Warrior for QAnon + 4 Great Art Essays Worth Reading From This March |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/essays-from-march-2021-1956672 |access-date=27 October 2024 |work=Artnet News |date=2 April 2021}}

Career

Dees was an illustrator for Sesame Street Magazine.{{cite news |last1=Henne |first1=B.G. |title=Read This: One man's journey from Sesame Street to the heart of truther collage art |url=https://www.avclub.com/read-this-one-man-s-journey-from-sesame-street-to-the-1798281860 |access-date=27 October 2024 |work=AV Club |date=16 July 2015}} He also did freelance work for Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, and other Disney book covers.{{Cite web |date=2015-07-17 |title=How a Sesame Street Illustrator Became the Truther Scene's Golden Boy |url=http://internet.gawker.com/how-a-sesame-street-illustrator-became-the-truther-scen-1717488190 |access-date=2024-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717152633/http://internet.gawker.com/how-a-sesame-street-illustrator-became-the-truther-scen-1717488190 |archive-date=July 17, 2015 }}

Reception

In 2017, the inclusion of one of Dees's illustrations in a German political textbook caused a controversy. The image, which depicted a Pac-Man-like character devouring Europe over the phrase "Rothschild bank", was widely described as antisemitic. The publisher of the textbook said that inclusion of the image was a "regrettable mistake" and halted printing. They also issued a replacement page for books that were already in circulation and promised to remove the image in the next edition.{{cite news |last1=Axelrod |first1=Toby |title=German schoolbook publisher apologizes for anti-Semitic illustration |url=https://www.jta.org/2017/01/26/global/german-schoolbook-publisher-apologizes-for-anti-semitic-illustration |access-date=27 October 2024 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=26 January 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Frohn |first1=Philipp |title=Wie es eine antisemitische Karikatur in deutsche Schulbücher geschafft hat |url=https://www.vice.com/de/article/wie-es-eine-antisemitische-karikatur-in-deutsche-schulbucher-geschafft-hat/ |access-date=27 October 2024 |work=VICE |date=26 January 2017 |language=German}}

Other images that Dees has created have been antisemitic. They present the Holocaust as fake. For example, he uses lines that Holocaust deniers use often, such as "Truth does not fear investigation."{{Cite web |title=David Dees: Conspiratorial Artist {{!}} ADL |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/news/david-dees-conspiratorial-artist |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=www.adl.org |language=en}} In one of his images he relies on the claim that the gas chambers at the Auschwitz concentration camp were used to kill lice, not people.

References

Category:1957 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:American graphic designers

Category:American cartoonists

Category:American conspiracy theorists

Category:American Holocaust deniers

Category:American anti-vaccination activists

Category:20th-century American illustrators

Category:American children's book illustrators