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Wilson, S. Clay

Robert Crumb, in his introduction to the book “The Art of S. Clay Wilson”:
“I was never quite the same after meeting Wilson. I studied his portfolio of drawings ... I was being blasted away, dissolved, atomized! There was something very familiar about the drawings, yet something entirely new, never before seen! They were a synthesis, just like he himself was. There was the cartoon element, but that was just one layer. It looked like folk art, like old-time tattoos, like some demented high-school hotrodder’s notebook drawings. The drawings were rough, crazy, lurid, coarse, deeply American, a taint of white-trash degeneracy. Every inch of space was packed solid with action and crazy details. The content was something like I’d never seen before, anywhere, the level of mayhem, violence, dismemberment, naked women, loose body parts, huge, obscene sex organs, a nightmare vision of hell-on-earth never so graphically illustrated in the history of art! Wilson was the strongest, most original artist of my generation that I had yet met. Suddenly my own work seemed insipid, troo cloyingly cute, timid, still constrained by built-in censorship. Here was a young artist drawing in a raw, unsophisticated, vulgar, unschooled style, blatant, unashamed, free of all social restrictions and the aesthetic considerations of the time. ... He was a huge influence on me and on my work. After the breakthrough that Wilson had, somehow, made, I no longer saw any reason to hold back my own depraved id in my work. Why hide it? Why not put it on the paper? ...
It was Wilson’s fault! He’s the one who started it, not me!”

Wilson actually had longevity in his genes, both parents lived to very ripe old ages, so if he had quit drinking he could still be producing great art. Wilson had a 150% personality, he was much larger than life, was very intelligent and could talk about anything. He also had a great memory and would recount with great clarity stories from his life going back many years. It’s a real tragedy what happened to him (although not entirely unexpected).

There are 23 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.     19 through 23 shown.

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Postcard 1991

Art Details

Artist:	S. Clay Wilson (All)
Media Type:	Marker
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	417
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	3/5/2013

About the Owner

Rarebit Fiend
Member Since:	February 2005

Postcard 1991
Artist: S. Clay Wilson (All)
417 Views

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An empty envelope

Art Details

Artist:	S. Clay Wilson (All)
Media Type:	Mixed Media
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	835
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	10/11/2010

About the Owner

Rarebit Fiend
Member Since:	February 2005

An empty envelope
Artist: S. Clay Wilson (All)
835 Views

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Self-portrait as horny satyr

Art Details

Artist:	S. Clay Wilson (All)
Media Type:	Mixed Media
Art Type:	Pin Up
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	4142
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	5/11/2010

About the Owner

Rarebit Fiend
Member Since:	February 2005

Self-portrait as horny satyr
Artist: S. Clay Wilson (All)
4142 Views

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Valentine card to his sweetheart

Art Details

Artist:	S. Clay Wilson (All)
Media Type:	Mixed Media
Art Type:	Pin Up
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	1050
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	5/11/2010

About the Owner

Rarebit Fiend
Member Since:	February 2005

Valentine card to his sweetheart
Artist: S. Clay Wilson (All)
1050 Views

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Kingdom of Evil centerspread (1992)

Art Details

Artist:	S. Clay Wilson (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	5788
Comments:	2
Added to Site:	12/16/2006

About the Owner

Rarebit Fiend
Member Since:	February 2005

Kingdom of Evil centerspread (1992)
Artist: S. Clay Wilson (All)
5788 Views, 2 Comments

There are 23 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.     19 through 23 shown.

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Search This Gallery Art By Type (within this Gallery) Double Page Spread (1) Interior Page (6) Other (13) Pin Up (3)   Art By Popularity (within this Gallery) Most Impressions Most Comments Most Likes   Art By Year (within this Gallery) 2022 2017 2015 2014 2013 2010 2006

Art By Artist (within this Gallery) S. Clay Wilson

 

About the Owner Rarebit Fiend Premium Gallery Owner Joined: February 2005 Last Login: September 2025 Ebay Id: rarebit-fiend Country: GERMANY On CAF: Rarebit's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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