OUTSIDE IN: the Billy Shire Archive

Originating in the late 1960s, in the heady atmosphere of Los Angeles and West Coast counter-culture scenes, the visual art genre of Lowbrow Art, aka Pop-Surrealism, found its feet. Informed by underground comix, surf and tiki, hot-rods and rock music (later encompassing punk music, sk8 and graffiti too), this evolving new style also combined aspects from outsider and folk-art forms, cartoons, religious iconography, sexual subjects, and the downright weird.

Its possibilities attracted many young artists and a diverse audience. As its visibility grew, its illustrational ancestry saw it rejected by the mainstream contemporary art world. Billy Shire was one of the first champions of these artists; he helped establish a new wave of California art and has earned the nickname “the Peggy Guggenheim of Lowbrow” from Juxtapoz Magazine for his influence in shaping this genre. Following his passion for the odd and unusual, he established the La Luz de Jesus gallery in 1986 in Los Angeles, highlighting these under-represented margins.

The style has since exploded worldwide, with movies, magazines, websites, art fairs, and more springing up to reflect its popular recognition and acceptance. It has moved from sub-culture OUTSIDE to mainstream IN.

Its narrative style and figurative basis established a relationship to street art and mass culture that has since engaged a wider global audience, and its ability to track with cultural trends and events has helped establish it as a significant visual form mirrored in myriad ways across the visual landscape of the 21st century.

OUTSIDE IN presents a selection from this history.

Artists: Aaron Marshall, Al Farrow, Alex de León, Ana Bagayan, Billy Shire, Carrie Ann Baade, Chris Mars, Christopher Bales, Christopher Ulrich, Clayton Brothers, COOP, Daniel Martin Diaz, Daniel Peacock, Dave Cooper, Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman, Dennis Larkins, Dianne Bennett, Don Fritz, Elizabeth McGrath, Eric White, Frank Kozik, Gail Potocki, Gary Panter, Georganne Dean, Glenn Barr, Henry Shire, Hudson Marquez, Jessica Joslin, Jim Heimann, Joe Coleman, Joe Sorren, Jon Langford, Judith Schaechter, Laurie Lipton, Lou Beach, Manuel Ocampo, Marion Peck, Mark Gleason, Maryrose Crook, Matthew Couper, Michael Hussar, Mikal Winn, Miriam Wosk, Neon Park, Norbert H. Kox, Octavio Ocampo, Owen Smith, The Pizz, Pol Turgeon, R.K. Sloane, Robert Williams, S. Clay Wilson, Scott Hove, Scott Musgrove, Shag, Shawn Barber, Tony Fitzpatrick, Wayne Martin Belger, and Win Wallace.