OZ Magazine No. 46 (January/February 1973) comes from the final phase of the UK underground publication, when the magazine leaned heavily into surrealism, dark humour, and political absurdity.

The cover features a grotesque, painterly scene: a figure wearing a gas mask tumbles head‑first across a pastoral landscape, one arm plunged into a toilet bowl while the body twists unnaturally through space. The image blends scatological humour, environmental anxiety, and bureaucratic satire into a single disorienting tableau.

The artwork echoes the influence of Bosch‑like grotesque painting and absurdist illustration, replacing psychedelic optimism with a more cynical, chaotic vision. The gas mask suggests pollution, authority, or post‑industrial paranoia, while the toilet introduces deliberate vulgarity — a recurring OZ tactic used to puncture respectability and political language.

By 1973, OZ had moved beyond its courtroom notoriety into a looser, darker editorial voice, often favouring imagery over text‑driven provocation.

This issue reflects the magazine’s late‑period mood: irreverent, nihilistic, and visually aggressive.