Cocktail Party Surprise - Conceptual Artist, 1996

Gahan Wilson was a Conceptual Artist before he was a Cartoonist. Before laying pen to paper, Wilson had to conceive a big idea. It was his idea was the basis of his art and not the actual drawing. The drawing although masterfully done was just a vehicle for the idea.
To include Cartoonists in the "Conceptual Art" club challenges traditional assumptions about Art History and who's in the canon and who is not. The ranks of artist like Marcel Duchamp, Sol LeWitt, John Baldessari, Joseph Kosuth, Yoko Ono, Vito Acconci, On Kawara should be widen to include Cartoonists like Gahan Wilson and Charles Addams.

Who was the greater artist, Gahan Wilson or Charles Addams? Given the scope and depth of Wilson's oeuvre and the sheer number of brilliant conceptual cartoons, I would say that they are on an equal plane. If you compare Gahan Wilson to so-called "Fine Art" artists, most of them are just one-trick ponies. They have one idea and usually one style, and they milk it as long as they can stay relevant. On the other hand, great cartoonists like Wilson and Addams have to think up a new idea for each work.
"Let's Go, Elise--I've Just Discovered this Cocktail Party is a Total Fraud!"
pen and ink on paper
signed lower left. Unframed.
Published: 'Gahan Wilson's Even Weirder', Forge: New York, 1996.
US$8,000 Plus shipping