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VIZART

OUTSIDE THE LINES: Ex-Playboy artist skewers both sides with social commentary

ART ON THE EDGE in Atlanta

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, September 18, 2008

“The Irreverent Art of Skip Williamson” at Vinson Gallery on Decatur Square must be the most accurately labeled art show of the month. Any show that features “Last Call,” a painting of a downcast Jesus surrounded by empty Rolling Rock bottles in a bar, wins the irreverence sweepstakes.

But Williamson’s irreverence is equal-opportunity. While art director of Playboy magazine, he produced a 1980 cartoon, “Hugh Hefner as an Infant.” An adult-faced baby Hefner stares at the breasts being pushed in his face and thinks, “Good!”

And often Williamson skewers politics without taking the side of one party or another; his two-faced politicians “Inside the Beltway” have no party labels.

And his hip-looking homeless man with a “will leave you alone for food” sign isn’t entirely a party-line piece of art, either.

The show’s oldest work is “PigPen,” a 1967 woodcut of the Grateful Dead musician. Some of the newest works deal directly with his years in Atlanta.

So this is a whole generation’s worth of outrageousness, and Vinson Gallery has used its down-the-hall location to present controversy that is in-your-face only after you bring your face into the gallery.

Many of you should make that effort. You know who you are.

THE 411: “The Irreverent Art of Skip Williamson” through Sept. 27. 12—-6 p.m. Wednesdays—-Fridays, noon—-9 p.m. Saturdays. Vinson Gallery, 119 East Court Square, Decatur. 404-370-1720. www.vinsongallery.com

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