David Dees

David Eugene Dees (July 9, 1957 – May 31, 2020)^[1] 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.^[2]

David Eugene Dees
Born	(1957-07-09)July 9, 1957
Died	May 31, 2020(2020-05-31) (aged 62) Ashland, Oregon, U.S.
Occupation	Commercial artist
Known for	Art depicting conspiracy theories
Website	DDees.com (archived August 2, 2020)

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.^[3] He was particularly drawn to the belief that Zionists control the media.^[4]

David Dees was the subject of the short documentary Do You See What I See?^[5]

Career

Dees was an illustrator for Sesame Street Magazine.^[6] He also did freelance work for Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, and other Disney book covers.^[7]

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.^[8][9]

Many images created by Dees have been widely purported as antisemitic, presenting the holocaust as fake and using common Holocaust denial dog whistles, such as "Truth does not fear investigation."^[10] One of his images spreads the claim that the gas chambers at the Auschwitz concentration camp were used to kill lice rather than humans.^[10]