Play on Words (1999) by Robert Williams

Play on Words - Robert Williams - 1999

Artwork Information

TitlePlay on Words
ArtistRobert Williams
Date1999
Art MovementLowbrow Art

About Play on Words

The artwork titled “Play on Words” by artist Robert Williams created in 1999, is a representative piece of the Lowbrow Art movement, known for its figurative style. This movement typically eschews high art in favor of a more populist and often subversive visual language.

In “Play on Words,” the observer is confronted with a complex and intriguing scene. The central figure is a young girl standing in a pastoral landscape, holding a massive, grotesque slab of meat that is adorned with small blue figures reminiscent of toy soldiers, engaging in what appears to be a chaotic battle. Clad in a pink dress with a bow in her hair, she gazes directly at the viewer, her expression one of blank innocence that contrasts sharply with the violent tableau above her head.

On her right, a child kneels, with an expression of distress or fear, and seems to be appealing to the girl for attention or help. To the girl’s left, there is a dog lying on the ground, possibly asleep or unconscious, adding to the enigmatic quality to the overall composition.

A circular frame inset into the lower right corner shows an illustration of a man in a doctor’s coat, labeled “MEDICAL REPORT” and inscribed with the name “J.C. Withers, MD,” shaking hands with a suited gentleman. This vignette-like inclusion adds another layer to the narrative quality of the piece and deepens the sense of surreal storytelling that is characteristic of Williams’s work.

The field and farmhouse in the background, along with the clear sky, suggest an ordinary, serene setting that contrasts dramatically with the disarrayed forefront, enhancing the overall dissonance in the scene and reinforcing the Lowbrow Art aesthetic of combining the mundane with the bizarre.

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