featuring:

suzanne williams

Suzanne Williams is an oil painter who has studied at the Los Angeles City College, Santa Monica Community College, Art Center College of Design, USC School of Architecture and Chounard Art Institute. Following her passion of hot rods and antique cars, she began her career working for Ed "Big Daddy" Roth on Choppers Magazine. After reveling in her creative freedoms there, she chose to remain a freelance artist and follow her own passions. The rare combination of her love of art and cars is what helped fuel her relationship to Robert Williams, her husband of many years.

george diCaprio

George DiCaprio is a major player in the underground comic book movement, where he worked as a writer, editor and distributor. It was through this work that he became intertwined with Robert Williams, a member of the Zap Collective. George is an avid supporter of modern artists and is father to actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

ed "big daddy" roth

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth is an artist in his own right, specializing in custom cars and hot rod designs. Amongst his work his designs were used on one of the very first Hot Wheel Cars ever produced. Robert Williams and Suzanne Williams organized the first Rat Fink Reunion honoring Ed's legacy, which is still going on today, 35 years later.

anthony kiedis

Anthony Kiedis has found acclaim as the lead singer and songwriter of rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have sold over 80 million records worldwide. When he is not recording or touring with the band, he has written a best selling memoir "Scar Tissue" and dabbled in acting. "He gets up at 430 in the morning to start painting, its an inspiration to me, ever since you told me that, now I get up at about 9 in the morning and I start writing", Kiedis once proclaimed at one of Robert's shows.

artie shaw

Artie Shaw was known as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists" and proved himself so by leading one of the most popular "Big Bands" of the 1930s and 40s as well as helping pioneer jazz fusion and early be-bop music. Shaw was a two-time Academy Award nominee for his work on Fred Astair's "Second Chorus" and lived to be 94. As a fan of Robert's work, Artie speaks to how all the classic painters should have a distinctive "thumb print" that allows their work to be recognized without question, which he thinks Robert's work did.

mat gleason

Mat Gleason is a Los Angeles based art critic who currently writes for the Huffington Post. He also serves as a founder and writer for Coagula Art Magazine. He has used his writing to speak out on the traditional art world and offers many progressive insights into the business and creative sides of the industy. He is a loyal friend and follower of Robert Williams work and holds him in the highest regards.

debbie harry

Debbie Harry earned millions of fans as the lead singer of rock group, Blondie, a pioneering group of the New Wave and Punk music scenes boasting album sales over 40 million. A successful philanthropist and actress, Harry has starred in over thirty films including hit films "Videodrome" and "Hairspray". Robert Williams painted a portrait, "Debbie Harry's Fears" which amongst other personal fears of hers, featured a depiction of her real life encounter with serial killer Ted Bundy on the streets of New York City that resulted in her jumping out of a moving car to escape his clutches.

chris stein

Chris Stein is the co-founder and guitarist of Blondie. Stein has helped write many of Blondie's songs as well as continue touring and working behind the scenes in the music industry. He bought one of Robert Williams' paintings during a wildly successful show and pointed out he bought the last one left and didn't get his choice of artwork.

axl rose

Axl Rose is best known as the voice of Guns N' Roses and is currently the only remaining original member of the band. They reached the pinnacle of success with album "Appetite for Destruction", featuring Robert Williams' artwork, which sold 18 million copies alone and became the most successful debut album in US History. "I love the artwork and the talent that was involved in it and I think it was such an outrageous picture that the skill and talent involved in making it gets overlooked". He told reporters of his reasons for choosing the artwork for their historical album.

slash

Slash is known worldwide by his iconic appearance and sensational guitar playing with Guns N' Roses and later, Velvet Revolver. Time and Rolling Stone Magazines have cited him as one of the best guitarists ever. Slash has recently been recording solo, but in 2012 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Guns N' Roses. "It wasn't good enough when we took it off the front cover and put it on the inside, ya know that blows", he would later say when asked to respond to the debate on censorship when women's groups began protesting the graphic imagery.

greg escalante

Greg Escalante is a passionate contemporary art collector and strong supporter of Robert Williams. When not working as a Treasury bond trader, he has amassed a collection of over 100 pieces of art. Greg is also well known for his decades of commitment to his original hobby, surfing. He is a prominent board member of Laguna Art Museum. Greg was one of the founding members of Juxtapoz magazine.

tony shafrazi

Tony Shafrazi first exploded onto the art scene when he defiantly made a protest and tagged Picasso's "Guernica". A member of Art Workers Coalition, Shafrazi would eventually become an art advisor, which helped him become a powerful voice in the art world. He later opened his own gallery in New York City and represents Robert as well as many other contemporary artists such as Francis Bacon and David LaChapelle. Robert will be presenting a one-man exhibition with Tony Shafrazi in 2014.

von dutch

Von Dutch is an American based global licensing company that started with Kenny Howard, a motorcycle mechanic and artist. It began with Kustom Kulture and the art of customizing cars and motorcycles, a passion of Robert Williams. It is now prominently known as a clothing label that has attracted many celebrity supporters, such as Madonna.

r. crumb

R. Crumb is an acclaimed cartoonist and musician. Beginning with Zap Comix in the 1960s, Crumb helped shape the underground movement with characters like Fritz the Cat and others that helped reflect American folklore and counter cultures.

don ed hardy

Don Ed Hardy was a prominent tattoo artist who used his unique designs and style to eventually launch a widely successful clothing and accessories line known simply as Ed Hardy. While mentoring artists in San Francisco, where he opened one of the first US Tattoo shops, he now focuses on printmaking and painting. Don has also worked on twenty-five books focusing on alternative art through his Hardy Marks Publications.