Weirdo deluxe The wild world of pop surrealism & lowbrow art

The simultaneously retro and pomo lowbrow art movement is on display in cutting-edge galleries, such magazines as Juxtapoz, and such books as the long-running annual comics-art anthology Blab! Jordan points out in the introduction to this guided tour of the movement that the movement isn't itself lowbrow, though the influences on which it draws--punk rock, the tiki lounge revival, folk art, kitsch in general--decidedly are. Jordan showcases two-dozen artists, from pioneers (and former 1970s underground comics creators) Robert Williams and Gary Panter to younger practitioners Gary Baseman and Mark Ryden. More than 100 reproductions appear, along with the artists' comments on their obsessions, collections, and the movement; many of them disdain the lowbrow label, and Williams voices contempt for the new guys following in his footsteps, accusing them of wooing a mass audience. He has a point. The once subversive and slightly dangerous is now accessible and benign. Hence this book of attractive, clever, congenial stuff--especially so to those who enjoy pop culture at its most embarrassing. --Gordon Flagg Copyright 2005 Booklist