Robert Williams (artist) 650352 224320980 2008-07-08T09:42:41Z Fram 390477 /* External links */ Removed two purely commercial links, and the comics artist cat (no evidence in article that he created comics) {{otherpeople|Robert Williams}} {{Infobox Artist | image = Replace this image male.svg <!-- Only freely-licensed images may be used to depict living people. See [[WP:NONFREE]]. --> | name = Robert Williams | imagesize = | caption = | birthname = Robert Williams | birthdate =March 2,1943 | location = | deathdate = | deathplace = | nationality = American | field = Oil on Canvas Art | training = [[Chouinard Art Institute]] | movement = Lowbrow / Pop Surreal | works = Appetite for Destruction | patrons = | influenced by = [[Kustom Kulture]] | influenced = | awards = }} '''Robert Williams''' is a well-known controversial painter and founder of ''[[Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine]]''.<ref>ipedia article on Robert Williams[http://fav.ipedia.com/robert_williams__artist_.html]</ref> Williams began as part of the trail-blazing [[Zap Comix|Zap Collective]]<ref>Lowbrow Artworld[http://www.lowbrowartworld.com/robert_williams.html]</ref>, along with other [[Underground comics|underground]] [[cartoonist]] visionaries like [[Robert Crumb]] and [[Gilbert Shelton]]. His mix of [[California]] car culture, cinematic [[apocalypticism]], and [[film noir]] helped to create a new genre of [[psychedelic]] imagery along with artists like [[Ed Roth|"Big Daddy" Ed Roth]]. Williams' formal training in the arts began at [[Los Angeles City College]] and culminated at [[Chouinard Art Institute]]. Of the moniker ''Lowbrow'' Williams steadfastly denies that the term was ever meant to define the movement, but was merely used in the title of his first collection. "There was never any intention to make the title of my book the name of a fledging art movement but, over time, that seems to be what has transpired." - Robt Wms <ref>Bien Art article on Robert Williams[http://beinart.org/info/essays/robert-williams.php]</ref>. Williams maintains that the movement should be referred to as 'cartoon-tainted abstract surrealism.' Perhaps his most famous work, ''Appetite for Destruction''<ref>Answers dot Com on Appetite for Destruction (controversy)[http://www.answers.com/topic/appetite-for-destruction]</ref>, depicting interlocking levels of [[human]]-to-[[robot]] [[rape]] and brutality, was featured as the cover for the [[Guns N' Roses]] [[Appetite for Destruction|album of the same name]], before controversy forced record company [[Geffen Records]] to move it to the inside cover. Williams began the magazine ''[[Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine|Juxtapoz]]<ref>Seattle PI[http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/246813_robertwilliams.html]</ref>'' in [[1994]]. It has propelled to fame many artists with William's same taste for Americanized figurative nightmares and the blending of pin-up, religious and kitsch culture. Among such artists is [[Mark Ryden]]. He is a featured interviewee in the movie [[Independent movie about comic book artists|Independents]]. In 2007, [[Vans]] released [[sneakers]] designed by Robert Williams as part of the Vans Vault series.<ref>Vans Vault Series '07 - Robert Williams[http://www.hypebeast.com/2007/05/vans-vault-series-07-robert-williams]</ref><ref>Vans Vault by Robert Williams[http://deadlicious.blogspot.com/2007/06/vans-vault-by-robert-williams.html]</ref> ==Bibliography == * ''The Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams'', Last Gasp * ''Views From a Tortured Libido'', Last Gasp * ''Visual Addiction'' (out of print), Last Gasp * ''Zombie Mystery Paintings'', Last Gasp * ''Malicious Resplendence'', Fantagraphics * ''Hysteria in Remission'', Fantagraphics * ''Through Prehensile Eyes'', Last Gasp * "The Hot Rod World Of Robt Williams", Motorbooks ==See also== * [[Lowbrow (art movement)]] * [[Rat rod]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.robtwilliamsstudio.com/ OFFICIAL Robert Williams website] * [http://beinart.org/artists/robert-williams/ Online Showcase of Robert Williams' Art] * [http://supervert.com/essays/art/robert_williams Robert Williams' Car Crashes on Canvas (essay)] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)|Williams, Robert]] [[Category:Living people|Williams, Robert]] [[Category:California artists|Williams, Robert]] [[Category:Underground cartoonists|Williams, Robert]] [[Category:Lowbrow pop surrealism artists|Williams, Robert]] [[Category:American SubGenii|Williams, Robert]] [[Category:Kustom Kulture artists|W]] [[fr:Robert Williams]] [[it:Robert Williams]]