Robert Williams: The Father of Pop Surrealism

From young delinquent to father of an entire art movement, Robert Williams has developed one of the most circulated art journals. Williams is one of the original founders of “Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine,” but still considers himself an “outsider” among pop surrealist artists, lowbrow art and the art world in general.

Born in 1943, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Williams moved to Los Angeles in the 60’s after a period of delinquency and gangs. He began to contribute his illustrations and pop surrealist art images to a college newspaper, and that was where his career began. He considers himself an outsider, because, despite the popularity of the magazine he helped to found, his own pop surrealist images might not be as well known as some would think.

Lowbrow Art

It was his 1979 book, “The Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams,” along with the influence of West Coast culture, which brought the term “lowbrow” into the vocabulary of the art world and defied convention. In the 1960’s, he began to work with Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, a custom car painter who inspired Williams to include hot-rod and psychedelic references to his artwork. However, Williams maintains that it was not is intention to use the term “lowbrow” to define an art movement, but that he merely intended for it to be the title of his collection.

“Juxtapoz” and Beyond

In 1994, Robert Williams founded “Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine” along with other artists and collectors such as Fausto Vitello and Greg Escalante. With the mission to unite different genres, “Juxtapoz” connected psychedelic, graffiti and street art with more recognized genres like pop, conceptual, and assemblage art. The magazine’s resulting pop surrealist artists, who are often considered to work in lowbrow art, also work in other forms of underground art and its sub-genres. In its initial covers and spreads of pop surrealist art images, artists who later became renowned were featured, such as Mark Ryden, Barry McGee, Tom Sachs, and other pop surrealist artists.

“Juxtapoz” is the most circulated art magazine in the United States, offering both printed and online digital subscriptions, which has catered it to a wide range of audiences. Through the magazine, Robert Williams has helped to advocate up and coming artists who might be considered outsiders in the world of fine art. Pop surrealist art images and lowbrow art are often considered synonymous, many pop surrealist artists choose to not embrace any movement, and instead pride themselves in being rebellious and going against convention.

Thumbprint Gallery is known for often featuring urban and street artists who, like many before them, are continually inspired by Williams’ work and “Juxtapoz” magazine. These include Matthew Land, Christopher Konecki, Michael Mahaffey and countless others who work in a wide range of genres, similarly to the way “Juxtapoz” has opened the door to many forms of art.

See more Thumbprint Gallery artists' works available in our online store. Check it out here.

Sources

http://www.robtwilliamsstudio.com