Lowbrow and the Kustom Kulture Movement...
The term “lowbrow”, coined by “Juxtapoz” magazine founder Robert Williams in the late 1970s, describes a modern art movement that flies in the face of traditional, gallery-safe, “highbrow” elements and imagery. In this eclectic style, which draws inspiration from punk, metal, and rockabilly music, as well as the tattoo, hot rod, tiki, and monster movie subcultures, all rules are thrown out the window.
Williams later referred to the lowbrow movement as "cartoon-tainted abstract surrealism”, but it has also been called “pop surrealism” and “underground art”, among other things. So while this style is difficult to label, it is somewhat easy to identify, as it often depicts the vehicles and fashions derivative of the pin-up girls of the 1940s, greasers of the 1950s, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth custom car builders of the 1960s, and lowriders of the 1970s.
The lowbrow scene emerged from—and remains most prominent in—Los Angeles, where, on any given weekend, you can find a kustom kulture show or tattoo event featuring amazing cars, great food, and lively music. You’ll find David there, somewhere between the surf, skeleton, hot rod, and zombie art.
David paints on thrift store items, vintage car parts, bowling pins, skate decks, and mirrors with 1 Shot enamel, which is the same medium pinstripers use to letter and detail their cars. It’s easy to layer and quick to dry, which makes it perfect for painting creepy characters with bold lines and exaggerated features.