The Lives of Lowbrow Artists: Volume 1

by Fritz Costa, Derek Yaniger (Illustrator), Josephine S. Williams (Editor)

Most American's have not heard of the Lowbrow art movement, yet most of them have seen it or enjoyed it in one way or another. Take for example the very popular heavy metal band, Guns N' Roses and their 1987 debut album, "Appetite for Destruction." The album name and cover was based off a painting of the same title. The original 1978 painting by Robert Williams depicts a robotic rapist, an abused woman sitting on the side walk with her panties dropped to her ankles, and a red metallic avenger leaping from the fence. The album cover was so controversial that record stores refused to stock copies of it. Guns N' Roses' record company, Geffen Records, compromised by putting the offending cover on the inside and replace the cover with a cross and skulls of the 5 members.Williams’ underground comic inspired painting started an art movement, which he named on a lark as “Lowbrow” art. Since comics are the lowest form of art, that only knuckle dragging Neanderthals would call it art. Hence, lowbrow. With this in mind, what defines the Lowbrow art movement -- or sometimes called the Pop Surreal art movement? What common belief do these artists hold dear and adhere to and what are they trying to achieve with their work? Currently I do not think anyone has the answer these questions, nor has there been sufficient scholarly critical writing within the Lowbrow / Pop Surreal community. There has been a several comprehensive survey books chronicling the movement such as, Kirstin Andersen's "Pop Rise of the Underground Art" in 2004 and Matt Dukes Jordan's "Weirdo The Wild World of Pop Surrealism and Lowbrow Art" in 2005, Billy Shire's "La Luz de Jesus 25: The Little Gallery that Could" in 2011, and several artist specific books. There's even been several feature length documentaries about the movement such as, Greg Gibb's "The Treasures of Long Gone John" in 2006, Tanem Davidson's "New Contemporary Underground Art" in 2009, and more recently in 2013 "Robert Mr. Bitchin" by Mary C. Reese, et al. This book chronicles the lives of today’s most popular Lowbrow / Pop Surreal Josh Agle (Shag), Tim Biskup, Miles Thompson, Derek Yaniger, and Brandi Milne. As they tell their life story, one can see their influences and how it shaped their art.

121 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 18, 2020

Reviews

[Kevidently · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the initial complaints I read about this book was that it didn’t include any art by the artists profiled. Except for the front cover, none of the work discussed in this volume was replicated or reproduced so that the story of the artist could compare to the art the artist made.

It’s a valid criticism, and would hold more weight if we weren’t all reading books with tiny, extremely powerful computers in our pockets at all times. One of the joys I had reading this book, was coming across a title or description and scrambling for my phone so I could look up the art. One of the best things about having this sort of multimedia approach to this book is that if I liked a piece of art referenced, I could go down a rabbit hole of more art, looking up after twenty minutes had gone by, my head dancing from all the lowbrow.

And the stories themselves are fascinating. Mostly what I’ve been interested in is tiki-centric, second wave Lowbrow art. I didn’t know it was second wave, and getting a little background on first wave was pretty interesting (lots of hot rods and pretty pinup girls). I also didn’t know we were currently in the third wave, much like we sort of are with tiki itself. Costa explains all of this with a deft touch, seemingly as enthralled with the subject as he hopes the reader is.

And what’s not to be enthralled by? Hearing the backstories of Shag, Tim Buskup, Derek Yaniger, Brandi Milne, and Miles Thompson is illuminating, and grow even more so as the book progresses, when you see the influences and intertwinings of this underground world progress and unfold.

I have some quibbles. Sometimes the book shifts into present tense for unknown reasons. It’s jarring and weird, but doesn’t shake your confidence in the fidelity of the storytelling. And of course, me being me, I came to this book as a tiki fan looking to read about art in the tiki milieu. That’s totally my fault, though; nothing on the cover ever said there’d be a Brad Parker retrospective in here.

And maybe that’s OK: one, this book got me interested in more art than I had been prepared for with my preconceptions. Two, it does say “volume one” on the cover (!!!) And three, and finally, a lot of lowbrow does bump up against tiki, because they are both uniquely American art forms that borrow from many different sources to create something idiosyncratic and brand-new. What a terrific book.

[Andy Montero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fritz Costa’s book was an amazing insight into the lives of 5 artists who developed the Lowbrow Art scene. Like for Fritz, SHAG was “the gateway drug into this world” for me as well, and though I knew much of Josh Agle’s story, I learned something new from Costa’s interview with him. This book introduced my to Tim Biskup and Brandi Milne and I look forward to exploring their amazing art. Thank you, Fritz Costa, for this wonderful work, which I highly recommend for anyone who wants to learn more about Lowbrow Art.

[Michael Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An art book without pictures, instead a collection of life profiles of various “lowbrow” artists, each one representing a slightly different wave or take on the loosely defined movement. I was already very familiar with half the artists included, but still learned quite a bit of information on their personal journeys, and it was great to be introduced to other talents. Only thing missing are actual illustrations, but that was easily remedied with a quick online search.

[Carl Upthegrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew very little about this subject before I read this book. Now I know a LOT more. The book is well written and informative. The author uses the lives of these artists to not only give the reader a good overview of Lowbrow art but also a look into the lives of the artists and how their experiences affected their art.
I would recommend this book to art lovers, members of the tiki culture and to those, who like me, enjoy reading about people.

[William Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Current and relevant

The second chapter on Tim Biskup is worth the price of admission alone. Overall an imperfect book and that is why it is perfect!

[James W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fritz Costa’s ‘The Lives of Lowbrow Artists: Volume 1’ is a comprehensive overview of an oft-overlooked underground scene (sometimes referred to as ‘Pop Surreal’ art) and the artists responsible for it.

Costa zeros in on five of the scene's most important figures: Josh Agle (a.k.a Shag), Miles Thompson, Derik Yaniger, Brandi Milne, and Tim Biskup. Utilizing first-hand accounts, Costa tells the story of the ‘Pop Surreal’ art movement by exploring the artists themselves, offering biographical overviews that illuminate the origins behind the art they created.

The stories that follow are wildly entertaining, offering a handful of different perspectives on some incredibly interesting times. Not knowing that much about modern art, let alone a subversive offshoot, I found myself flipping from one page to the next eager to hear more. While there is a bit of overlap between the five artists, their perspectives and experiences are so different from each other, each chapter only adds to the overall ‘picture’ Costa attempts to paint.

As others have mentioned, the only glaring disappointment here is the complete lack of photos and illustrations. While I’m sure there are rights and funds issues at play here, reading Costa’s thoughts on one artist after another only to have to pause every other page to google their work was a bit of a hindrance to the overall enjoyment of this novel—hopefully, this is something the author can amend with future pressings and/or volumes.

That all being said, ‘The Lives of Lowbrow Artists: Volume 1’ is both informative and highly entertaining, one that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in modern contemporary art.

[Ed Malaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lives of Lowbrow Artists tells the stories of several great artists one at a time. Each story was unique, informative, and interesting. It gives a full backstory of each artist and shows you how they have evolved over time. It’s also based on modern artists which I found refreshing. Now that I know what it is, I can say Lowbrow art is my favorite. As a musician myself, many of the things that these artists create work perfectly together.

The only real negative thing about this book that I discovered is that there are no pictures. It constantly mentions specific pieces of art that would be nice to see s you're reading. Many of them are easy enough to look up, but it takes you away from the book and can get frustrating and tedious.

I recommend it to anyone who likes art, album covers, and animation.

[Susan Alpert · Rating 5 out of 5]

So THE LIVES OF LOWBROW ARTISTS VOL. 1 by Fritz Costa isn’t about Dogs Playing Poker and Margaret Keane’s Big Eyes paintings, like I thought it would be. Instead, this is a serious introductory essay and collection of five interviews highlighting successful artists. They are defined as lowbrow artists because cartoons, as well as other forces like punk music and tiki culture influence their work. Mr. Costa provides a level of detail into their lives that should inspire young artists everywhere. Based on his acknowledgements, he may have completed this project because of the pandemic. I gained so much knowledge reading about these artists during this same period because I can’t currently visit galleries and museums and miss that culture immensely.

[Brit · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lives of Lowbrow Artists Vol 1 by Fritz Costa is an insightful look at 5 of the artists who helped develop the art scene. You'll learn from this book whether you already know about this art scene or have no clue what lowbrow art is (but if you're new to the topic, make sure to read the foreword). The writing style is captivating, almost taking on a journalistic style as Costa weaves artist interviews into the story.

My issue is with the many typos and formatting. The first chapter alone is full of small errors and some paragraphs are packed full of information and name-drops. These little things could have been prevented with a bit of proofreading before publication. That said, the story itself is well worth the read.

[A.M. Merrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a good book and I learned things I didn't know before reading it. The only downside to this book is that I thought it would be more about pop art like Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein, and the artists covered in this book are a bit more punk art, which is nothing against the author as Fritz Costa did a great job of covering the artists in this book. I like this book because it was short and to the point and covered a lot of information about each artist without a lot of extra fluff. I would definitely recommend this book to others who want to learn more about art history or modern artists, even if I might not read it again myself.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Fritz Costa’s “The Lives of Lowbrow Artists.” It’s an overview of some of the overlooked artists that talks about a movement I hadn’t heard of in a way that made me care. Fritz Costa traces the lives of five artists involved in the Pop Surreal art movement.

The stories are deeply entertaining, though they can be overly wordy.

My one critique with this book is that it contains no art — not even illustrations on the chapter pages. With such a startling cover, I thought the pages would be filled with art. At the very least Costa should have included pictures of the art the artists have created, rather than painstakingly writing about what their art looks like.

[Corrine Cassels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it's fun to just pick up a book about a subject you have no idea about and go into it with no expectations. This was that book for me and I learned so much about something I had no idea I was so interested in! This is a great read for anyone into pop surrealism, but also for anyone interested in anything outside the radar of mainstream. I learned so much, not only about the five artists featured, but about the motivation behind the genre. Yeah, there's no pictures but the book is about the artists and their stories, not necessarily the art they created. Really enjoyed this one!

[Mark Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lowbrow artists are considered the “lowest” form of art creators in any genre. They are unrepresented, underrated, and unappreciated. But many artists are better than the professionals who look down at them. In Fritz Costa’s comprehensive look at the genre and style of these creators, the author tries to help readers understand the creators and the art. While the book is dry at times, the author dose use humor to make his points. The only major element that subtracts from the book is illustrations. Readers would love to see more examples of these raw art forms.

[Josh Whitworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a few grammar errors, but it was so informative and great. I've always loved lowbrow art. I just didn't realize that it was called lowbrow or that it was actually my favorite. It also helped me find my favorite artist: Shag.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book but it would have been so much better with a good editor.