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Robert Williams is a champion of lowbrow art who has barged past the velvet rope of fine art with wonderfully complex, completely thought out, and masterfully executed oil depictions of Western Civilization gone horribly wrong. His work is so far out from the fine art world that he was forced to found Juxtapoz magazine to not only create context for his work but start a movement of street-level creativity as well. Even so, he is largely dismissed in high art circles and equally ignored in pop culture realms. When the excellent documentary on the artist was screened last week at Comic-Con, he was introduced as “Robin Williams.”

Mr. Bitchin’ should help prevent such mistakes in the future. It details the artist’s evolution from hot-rod garages to high-end galleries, and features luminaries such as Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Don Ed Hardy, and R. Crumb, as well as members of Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blondie, and Butthole Surfers. While effectively and convincingly telling William’s story, it provides quite a primer on subcultures.

I met with Williams the day after the movie showing and a subsequent panel about him. As affable as he is intelligent, we had a casual yet charged conversation in the compound of Gentle Giant (which has released a miniature bust of the artist and is assisting the artist in realizing a series of large sculptures) in anticipation of the film’s release on DVD and digital platforms on July 30.

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Robert Williams is a champion of lowbrow art who has barged past the velvet rope of fine art with wonderfully complex, completely thought out, and masterfully executed oil depictions of Western Civilization gone horribly wrong. His work is so far out from the fine art world that he was forced to found Juxtapoz magazine to not only create context for his work but start a movement of street-level creativity as well. Even so, he is largely dismissed in high art circles and equally ignored in pop culture realms. When the excellent documentary on the artist was screened last week at Comic-Con, he was introduced as “Robin Williams.”

Mr. Bitchin’ should help prevent such mistakes in the future. It details the artist’s evolution from hot-rod garages to high-end galleries, and features luminaries such as Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Don Ed Hardy, and R. Crumb, as well as members of Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blondie, and Butthole Surfers. While effectively and convincingly telling William’s story, it provides quite a primer on subcultures.

I met with Williams the day after the movie showing and a subsequent panel about him. As affable as he is intelligent, we had a casual yet charged conversation in the compound of Gentle Giant (which has released a miniature bust of the artist and is assisting the artist in realizing a series of large sculptures) in anticipation of the film’s release on DVD and digital platforms on July 30.

Continue reading