We live in a world where the deft combination of single images and pithy captions is a dominant method of personal expression (see: Twitter, Tumblr, etc.), and where an editorial cartoon can earn an artist or publisher death threats as well as a dedicated following. Few individuals are as clued in to the volatility of the current political climate as iconic cartoonist Dwayne Booth (aka Mr. Fish), whose Go Fish: How to Win Contempt and Influence People, is both a new book from Akashic and a new exhibition at Bergamot Station's Robert Berman Gallery. A fixture on the op-ed pages of publications including Truthdig.com, the Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice, Vanity Fair and, yes, L.A. Weekly, Mr. Fish is known for pointed and piquant single-panel cartoons that fearlessly and relentlessly take on the most sacred of cows in public life. Though he works from what seems to be a progressive-leaning stance, he's an equal-opportunity nudnik, taking plenty of aim at the hypocrisies and less forgivable shortcomings of heroes of the American Left. As the new published collection portrays — especially in conjunction with the gallery show of original, caption-free drawings — Mr. Fish constantly struggles to find a balance between the dueling imperatives of personal artistic expression and his profession's broader social responsibility.

Sat., Aug. 6, 6 p.m.; Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Aug. 6. Continues through Aug. 27, 2011

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