Art & Creativity Quote by Brad Holland

The line lands because it refuses the comforting fantasy that we can always spot propaganda the way we spot bad design: from a distance, and in someone else. Holland, an illustrator who’s spent a career watching images do political work in magazines, galleries, and campaigns, is pointing at the viewer’s blind spot: agreement feels like discernment. If the message flatters our self-image, we upgrade it to “art.” If it irritates us, we demote it to “propaganda.”

The word “cliches” is the knife twist. Holland isn’t contrasting truth vs. lies; he’s contrasting two packages of pre-chewed sentiment. That’s a brutal admission about political imagery in particular, which often succeeds by compressing complex realities into instantly legible symbols: the noble protester, the faceless bureaucrat, the innocent child, the sinister flag. Cliche is a feature, not a bug, because cliche travels fast.

The intent is also a quiet defense of skepticism without sliding into nihilism. By reframing the distinction as a matter of audience alignment, Holland exposes how cultural gatekeeping works: institutions, critics, and readers confer the label “political art” when the work harmonizes with their moral common sense. “Propaganda” becomes a synonym for “the other side’s narrative technique.”

For an illustrator, that’s personal. Visual persuasion is often treated as suspect only when it’s overt, while “tasteful” persuasion gets a museum pass. Holland’s joke is a warning: our political aesthetics are frequently just our politics, wearing better clothes.