Malicious Resplendence

The paintings of this acclaimed artist get the lush treatment theydeserve in this volume, which offers a career-spanning collection ofthe infamous lowbrow master. Williams sprang from the custom carculture of Southern California and the roots of the Underground Comixmovement (Williams, of course, was one of the founding ZAPartists, along with R. Crumb), ultimately transcending the constraintsof both by cultivating his mastery of oil paints and forging a careeras the preeminent artist among a generation of imagist paintersgathering inspiration from the shadowed corners of contemporaryculture. Williams singlehandedly became the model of the "Outsider" artmovement, influencing a generation of artists to create without concernfor the fine art world, held in contempt by Williams. It's a feelingwhich had been reciprocated in kind for years by the established fineart community, although Williams' sheer mastery of his craft has causeda grudging retreat.