Once upon a time, art openings and museum shows were the domain of high-falutin' art-school types and their pretentious wanna-be fan boys and gals. But ever since pop-surrealist painters from the lowbrow-art movement began to have their way with the fine-arts establishment, museum shows have gotten a whole lot more interesting.
"Lowbrow art is categorized by artwork that has been looked down on or shunned by mainstream characters," says Mike Goodwin, curator of the "Beyond the Cel" exhibit. "Cels" -- a term coined by Robert Williams from Zapp Comics, who worked with underground-comic legend Robert Crumb -- are thin sheets of celluloid that are the basis for hand-drawn animation.
Like all mediums that challenge the establishment, lowbrow art is still an issue of contention regarding its legitimacy. Never mind the bollocks, though, because painters from the lowbrow movement are still giving a finger to the man, Goodwin says. "The participating artists have been denied for way too long by mainstream institutions to show their work to the general public, so it's a great honor to have them here."
The exhibition features a veritable who's who from Juxtapoz Magazine and The Lowbrow Rockstar set, including Ron English, Gary Baseman, Sket-One, KRK Ryden, and The Brothers McLeod.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Sept. 14. Continues through Feb. 10, 2007
