On Sunday, January 18, 2025, join us as we host Joseph R. Givens to learn about contemporary pop surrealism and lowbrow art, as coined by visual artist Robert Williams. As with all Sundays@4 presentations, this will be free and open to the public.
the presentation:
This presentation will contextualize the creators in Surreal Salon 18 within a decades-long tradition of underground art movements that sustained figurative art during the late twentieth century, a period dominated by performance, assemblage, abstraction, and other non-objective practices. With a focus on the American artist, Robert Williams, who is credited for spearheading lowbrow art and pop surrealism, it will reveal the wellspring of aesthetic and With a focus on the American artist, Robert Williams, who is credited for spearheading lowbrow art and pop surrealism, it will reveal the wellspring of aesthetic and philosophical inspirations that artists glean from Kustom Kulture, psychedelic poster art, underground comix, punk art, and graffiti. inspirations that artists glean from Kustom Kulture, psychedelic poster art, underground comix, punk art, and graffiti.
about Joseph R. Givens:
Joseph R. Givens is a lecturer of Art History at Louisiana State University whose research highlights the rebellious edge of contemporary art. He explores figurative art in the age of abstraction, from Kustom Kulture and psychedelic poster art to lowbrow and pop surrealism, emphasizing how subcultural and punk aesthetics shape visual culture. Givens is the biographer of underground art icon and Juxtapoz magazine founder, Robert Williams. His current projects examine how underground art spaces laid the groundwork for a twenty-first-century revival of object-focused and figurative art.
Sundays@4 is presented in partnership with the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area whose mission is to enhance the identity of our unique American landscape by preserving and promoting our heritage and by fostering progress for local champions that create authentic, powerful connections between people, culture, and the environment.