BEN MALTZ GALLERY at OTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN 9045 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90045, 310.665.6905, Fax 310.665.6908
For Immediate Release February, 2005 Media contact: Kathy MacPherson, [email protected], 310.665.6909. Images available.
May 14 – July 30, 2005 Robert Williams: Through Prehensile Eyes A solo exhibition of paintings, drawings, and hotrods. Saturday, May 21: Opening reception for the artist 6-7pm Last Gasp book-release/signing for Through Prehensile Eyes: Seeing the Art of Robt. Williams followed by a reception until 10pm.
Master Painting Workshop with Robert Williams 4 Sundays, June 5-26, 12-4pm, $233, to register call Otis Evening College 310.665.6850 after April 11
Lecture with Robert Williams Sunday, July 17, 4pm, Otis Ahmanson Hall, Forum, Free Reservation required: 310 665 6909, [email protected]
The Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design is pleased to organize and present Robert Williams’ first show in Los Angeles proper in ten years. He is a controversial figure like Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelley, and Megan Williams; and he exists in the world of Kustom Kulture and the “Low Brow.” He continues to influence generations of artists, especially through the creation of Juxtapoz magazine. His narrative style paintings are provocative, intense and challenging, as well as intelligent, complicated, and unusually sophisticated. The exhibition features approximately 45 paintings from 1979-present with related sketches and ephemera, and two of his custom hotrods. It is curated by Meg Linton, organized by the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art + Design, and funded in part by the Pasadena Art Alliance and Juxtapoz Magazine.
A painting student first at Los Angeles City College and later at the Chouinard Art Institute, Williams got his first break when he became the art director for the legendary hotrod hero Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. With the rise of the counterculture in the late 1960s, Williams found a growing audience in the underground comic milieu that nurtured such figures as Robert Crumb, Victor Moscoso and S. Clay Wilson. One of the originators of Zap Comix, Williams continues his tradition of no-holds-barred creative exploration. In 1994 Williams founded Juxtapoz magazine with a group of artists and collectors. The publication’s mission statement is to present art that is provocative, technically adept and worthy of exposure. Williams’ work has been presented internationally and was included in the landmark exhibition Helter Skelter: LA Art in the 1990s curated by Paul Shimmel in 1992 for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Williams has produced a number of publications, such as Malicious Resplendence; Zombie Mystery Painting; Visual Addiction; Views from a Tortured Libido; and his upcoming publication Through Prehensile Eyes (Last Gasp 2005). (more)
Location: Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045 Parking: Free parking in parking structure and on the street Gallery Hours: Tue – Sat: 10am – 5pm / Thu: 10am – 7pm. Closed Mondays. Closed May 28-30 and July 2-4. Gallery Office Hours: Mon – Fri: 10am – 5pm Gallery Admission: Free Information: 310.665.6905, [email protected], www.otis.edu Gallery Tours: 310.665.6909 to schedule tours for schools, museums or other groups.
Top, left to right: Enchiladas De Amore, 1987; Patrick Has A Glue Dream, 1989; Allegations of Fairy Abuse on Chickenhawk Island, 1988.
Bottom, left to right: The Day Joe Smiley “Ate The Bad Oyster,” 1990; The Brain That Thinks Holes Through Boiler Plate, 1987; Magnitude X, 1989. All works oil on canvas.
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