R. Crumb

"In 1967, a young Philadelphia cartoonist named Robert Crumb arrived in San Francisco and quickly established himself as a master of the burgeoning "Comix" movement. No one had ever seen anything like Crumb's skewed adult satire, a brilliant combination of classical storytelling and crass commercialism, expressed in a vibrant symbolic language harking back to "old time" cartooning. First featured in Philadelphia's Yarrowstalks and in his own Zap Comix, Crumb's tales of funny animals and misguided souls seeking enlightenment (including Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, Devil Girl, and his most enduring character, R. Crumb) vibrate with libidinal obsessions, feminist empowerment, racial tension, counterculture paranoia, government repression, and big-business commodification—the hustles and bustles hidden beneath the American dream." R. Crumb exhibit now open at the ICA Philadelphia. -JW