Customer Reviews

The Art of S. Clay Wilson

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The ART of S. CLAY WILSON is one hundred fifty-four pages of non-stop art. As always, Wilson's art is wild, visceral, violent, sexual, sincere, and enormously playful. The work is arranged chronologically, 1961 through 2006, and it's a helluva freewheeling ride.
This book opens with six short (1-3 pages) introductory pieces written by R. Crumb, Mark Pascale (Associate Curator of Pints & Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago), John Francis Putnam (writing in The Realist), Charles Plymell (Wilson's first publisher), Geoffrey Young (Curator, The Geoffrey Young Gallery), and Bob Levin (author - his "Outlaws, Rebels, Free-Thinkers and Pirates" includes a chapter on Wilson). Most are funny, revealing, or sentimental (!), all provide some background information for the work that follows.
The book itself is a beauty, surprisingly understated in design and layout. The clean presentation complements the relentlessly detailed art. There are nice touches throughout, including checkered endpapers and a title page self-portrait.
You'll find very few pages of comics or stories in this volume. The ART of S. CLAY WILSON is a life-spanning collection of mostly full-page drawings and illustrations. If you're looking for Wilson comics, try Last Gasp's THE COLLECTED CHECKERED DEMON.
If you're a Wilson fan, snatch this book up. It's a good one.

The most complete art book of the master Clay Wilson. Since the first draw till today you will find the masterwork of crazy times. Very good book!

S. Clay Wilson was a staple of the Zap Comix and other assorted underground comics such as Snarf and Yellow Dog pantheon of the late 60s and early 70s. His unforgettable characters like Ruby the Dyke, Starry-Eyed Stella, Captain Pussgums and the immortal Checkered Demon are as iconic, but so much cutting edge in-your-face depraved, within that genre as fellow Zap cartoonists R. Crumb's Mr. Natural, Robt. Wms' Cootchy-Coo, or Gilbert Sheldon's Fabulous Furry Break Brothers. His panel by panel of rollicking uber-offensive character exploits will be missed.

Joel Parker
San Jose