Anthony Ausgang

Anthony Ausgang (born Anthony Charles Grant Thompson) is an artist and writer born in Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago^[1] in 1959 who lives and works in Los Angeles.^[2] Ausgang is a principal painter associated with the Lowbrow art movement,^[3]^[4]^[5] one of "the first major wave of lowbrow artists" to show in Los Angeles in the early 1980s.^[6] The protagonists of his paintings are cats^[7] -- "psychedelic, wide eyed, with a kind of evil look in their eyes”.^[8]

He was schooled at the Otis Art Institute^[9] in Los Angeles. In 1990, Ausgang had his first solo show at the 01 Gallery in Hollywood.^[10] Among the places he has exhibited are: La Luz de Jesus, The Laguna Art Museum’s “Kustom Kulture” show, Kantor Gallery. Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Roq La Rue Gallery,^[3] LA Municipal Gallery, and Copro Gallery.^[11]^[12] In 2009, Ausgang’s work was included in the exhibition Apocalypse Wow! at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome in Italy,^[13] and in late 2012, Ausgang was the featured international artist at the Rewind show in Bologna celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fender guitar in Italy.^[14]

Congratulations cover art by Anthony Ausgang

By 1993, Ausgang’s artistic production consisted of customized cars,^[15] original acrylic paintings,^[2] and commercial merchandise,^[16] including clothing,^[17] puzzles,^[18] toys,^[19] lighters,^[20] and posters.^[21] Laguna Art Museum commissioned Ausgang to design a hole for a miniature golf course exhibit at South Coast Plaza in 1996.^[22] As a "successful artist who appears in several magazines and exhibitions a year", Ausgang also boasts an impressive list of commercial clients including Tower Records, MTV, Sony Music and David Lee Roth.^[23] In 2003, Ausgang designed the cover for Dude Descending a Staircase, the fourth studio album by the British band Apollo 440.^[2]

In 2010, Ausgang did the cover art^[24] for the MGMT release Congratulations,^[25]^[26]^[27] "an eye grabbing illustration that could easily been found on a Grateful dead release circa 1974”^[28] which was nominated by NME for the Best Art Vinyl of 2010.^[29] In 2011, Ausgang designed the Christmas windows for the La Rinascente Department Store in Milan with larger-than-life three-dimensional models of his trademark psychedelic cartoon cats.^[30]

KeroseneBomb published Ausgang's first fiction book The Sleep of Puss Titter: A Lysenkoist Life in the Random-Word Generation in 2011.^[31] "Vacation from Reality" is the anthology of his major artworks up to 2007.^[2] His artwork is featured in several anthologies, including Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art by Matt Dukes Jordan^[6] and Pop Surrealism by Kirsten Anderson.^[3] LA Weekly magazine commissioned a painting by Ausgang for their annual "Best Of ... " special issue in 2000.^[32] In 2011, Anthong Ausgang received the lifetime achievement award at Beyond Eden's annual art fair at Barnsdall Art Park.^[33]^[34]

Books

Vacation from Reality: The Art of Anthony Ausgang (9mm Books, 2007) ISBN 978-0-9766-3250-4
Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art by Matt Dukes Jordan, Artist Anthology (Chronicle Books, 2005) ISBN 978-0-8118-4241-9
LA Artland: Contemporary Art from Los Angeles by Chris Kraus, Ariana Fox, Artist Anthology (Black Dog Publishing, 2005) ISBN 978-1-9047-7230-9
Pop Surrealism by Kirsten Anderson, Artist Anthology (Last Gasp, 2004) ISBN 978-0-8671-9618-4
Morning Wood by Roger Gastman, Artist Anthology (Gingko Press, 2003) ISBN 978-1-58423-159-2
Taboo: The Art of Tiki by Martin McIntosh, Artist Anthology (Outre Gallery Press, 1999) ISBN 978-0-6463-7731-5
Kustom Kulture by Ron Turner, Artist Anthology (Last Gasp, 1993) ISBN 978-0-8671-9405-0
Juxtapoz Car Culture by Kevin Thomson, Artist Anthology (Gingko Press, 2009) ISBN 978-1-5842-3347-3

External links

References

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 95860537 ULAN: 500028986

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