Deep in the heart of suburbia, on a quiet street be-
tween four major Los Angeles freeways sits a perfectly
inconspicuous tract house built in the mid-1950's. The
exterior is well kept, the lawn mowed, the bushes trim-
med. Inside, a tour of the house is like a promotional
pamphlet for some demented Las Vegas motel. Would
you like the skull collection suite or would you prefer the
imperial German helmet room? Perhaps the pulp
magazine penthouse is more to your taste? Amid the
nobt.
Villiams
W
dusty and decaying memorabilia that is neatly cramm-
ed into every available space, seeth the hair-palmed
compulsive paintings of outsider artist Robert Williams,
a self-proclaimed lowbrow dedicated to raising the
highbrow eyebrows of establishment art. He is a pus-
filled pimple on the haughty face of art snobbery.
Robert Williams is a soft-spoken man, lean and
decadently handsome, with a look reminiscent of some
outlaw hot rodder Romeo. He wears faded but slightly
sinister black clothes and shiny black pointy-toed shoes.
His grey hair is slicked straight back and two expensive
sable paint brushes are stuck behind his ear. He ▸
Interview by Lynn Coleman
Photography by C.R. Stecyk III
Above Left: Robert Williams in front of the fruits of his labor. "I just know it's
be a painter or put a pistol in my mouth."
The Brain That Thinks Holes
Through The Boiler Plate.
Museum Catalog Title: The
Mental Condition Of Homi-
cidal Adoration Is Experi
enced By A Patient Who Sees
His Doomed Infatuation As
"Two Boats Passing In The
Night' And Feels That If
There's No Liaison One Will
Have To Be Sunk
Colloquial Title:
Melt-Down For Love
adidas
46
GRACEMEN
HIGH SECURITY
SANITARN
Never Cut Towards Yourself
Museum Catalog Title: Of
The Procession Of Human
Learning Experiences None Is
More Remembered Than The
Self-Directed Parry With An
Instrument Of Cutlery
Colloquial Title: Taiwanese
Imitation 'Swiss Army'
Knives In The Hands Of
Babes