Von Dutch, Big Daddy Roth, Robert Williams & Others
Laguna Arts Museum / Last Gasp
1993
This 11 x 11", 96- page trade paperback is the catalog to the eponymous art show held in 1993 at the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach, California, on the Pacific Coast Highway.
'Kustom Kulture' is primarily a tribute to three men who epitomized the hot rod detailing and modification culture that flourished in the 50s, 60s, and even the early 70s in Southern California.
Ken Howard (September 7, 1929–September 19, 1992), better known as 'Von Dutch', was the founder of the custom culture; trained as a sign painter, he began detailing hot rods in the 1950s. Howard soon became not only a well-known craftsman, but a mentor to a new generation of artists interested in applying the techniques and styles pioneered by 'Von Dutch'.
Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth (March 4, 1932 – April 4, 2001) was a native Californian who, starting in 1959, began crafting custom hot rods that came to typify the Kustom Kulture. When in 1963 Tom Wolfe published an article in Esquire magazine titled 'There Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy-Kolored (Thphhhhhh!) Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (Rahghhh!) Around the Bend (Brummmmmmmmmmmmmmm)…', Roth ascended to nationwide renown.
Roth's signature cartoon character, 'Rat Fink', became an icon to Baby Boomers and the most visible representation of the Kustom Kulture ethos.
Robert Williams (b. 1943) moved to Los Angeles in 1963 at the age of 20 and two years later took a job with Roth, designing advertisements and merchandise for the latter's growing commercial enterprises. Williams began his own painting career during the 60s, and became one of the founding artists of the underground comix movement later in the decade.
'Kustom Kulture' features a number of biographical and critical essays on each of the three men. Its large format and high-quality reproductions do justice to the represented artwork, whether it be photographs of customized cars, paintings, cartoons, plastic scale-model boxes, or advertisements.
Somewhat inevitably for an art show catalog, some of the contributors take things too seriously and produce essays that are more at home in Academic journals, but on the whole, the accompanying text does what it needs to do and informs the reader of the place of Kustom Kulture in American art, Southern California history, and the history of the American automobile.
'Kustom Kulture' will be appreciated by those with a fondness for so-called 'lowbrow' art; comics; hot rods; 60s Pop Culture; and the legends and myths of South California in the postwar era, a golden age that never will come again. Prices for copies in good condition are quite reasonable so if you are interested in these topics, 'Kustom Kulture' is worth getting.
Group portrait of underground comix artists, Santa Monica, 1985. Left to right: S. Clay Wilson; Stanley Mouse; Victor Moscoso; Robert Crumb; Rick Griffin; Robert Williams; Kim Deitch; and Spain Rodriguez.
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