ROBERT WILLIAMS

Robert Williams (b. 2 March 1943, USA) As a kid, Robert Williams was polluted by E.C. comics, B-movies, lurid pulp magazines and Tex Avery cartoons. ('When the first issue of Mad arrived, it blew my mind!) Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Williams has lived most of his life in Los Angeles. As a teenager, he was art director for Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth and produced four issues of Roth magazine, featuring the weird, inventive car designs that Roth and his artist pioneered.

When Robert Williams saw the comic Zap # 1 by Robert Crumb, it blew his mind again, and soon he joined the underground comix family, contributing comics to Gothic Blimp Works, Felch Comics, Cootchy Cooty Men's Comics, Snatch, The Snatch Sampler, Tales from the Tube and most issues of Zap comics.

Since 1970 Williams made a living with his fine art oil paintings, which have enjoyed great commercial success. Besides painting, he edits Juxtapoz, the contemporary art magazine he founded, and produces books. A sixth volume of his surrealistic art, 'Malicious Resplendence', was published by Fantagraphics Books in 1999.