LOWBROW ART. POP SURREALISM

This book is a comprehensive and in-depth study devoted to Lowbrow Art and Pop Surrealism, two artistic movements that originated in the United States and have profoundly transformed the contemporary art scene. Since the late 1960s, American artist Robert Williams has developed a radical and nonconformist style of painting, drawing inspiration from underground comics, hot rod culture, tattoo art, psychedelic posters, and carnival arts—all fields long ignored or disparaged by the fine arts world. Richly documented and generously illustrated, this book traces the history of this countercultural movement through four major periods, from 1850 to the present day, exploring its profound influences and its gradual global reach. It spotlights the movement’s pioneering figures through portraits and exclusive interviews with Robert Williams, Joe Coleman, Todd Schorr, Mark Ryden, and gallery owner Merry Karnowsky—true witnesses and participants in this artistic revolution. The book also addresses the emergence of Pop Surrealism in the 1990s—a new label that both broadened and challenged the boundaries of Lowbrow Art—before the movement went global in the 2000s, thanks in large part to Juxtapoz magazine, which by 2009 had become the most widely circulated art magazine in the United States.