Charles Williams
Cosmic Giggles
March 5, 2020 - Ongoing
Charles Williams
Cosmic Giggles
March 5, 2020 – Ongoing
Institute 193 (1B), New York
“A cosmic cartoon collection of extraterrestrial beings visiting the Earth, and with the pollution problems, gas shortage, bad weather and with the rent going up, the Martians can’t affort to stay so there woun’t be any ‘War of the Worlds.’”
— Charles Williams
Beginning sometime around 1975, Charles Williams embarked on the creation of a series of drawings he referred to collectively as the Cosmic Giggles that recount the exploits and observations of Martians visiting Earth. During their travels around our world the aliens witness homelessness, racism, and other societal and environmental ills. Though some are more than passive observers on the planet, ultimately, they decide to return to their planet, as Earth was neither worth invading nor taking over.
The drawings would have been extremely relevant at the time of their creation and directly mention both pop culture phenomena and larger political movements alike. He specifically references the American Bicentennial, Black Power, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and the Women’s Liberation Movement. Many are humorously captioned, offering witty one-liner criticisms of life on Earth. Viewed together, the drawings demonstrate Williams’ uncanny ability to address serious issues through the unlikely medium of camp science fiction. They also demonstrate how little things have changed.
Williams made the Cosmic Giggles drawings with ballpoint ink pens and reproduced them as black-and-white photocopies while working at IBM. While Williams did not provide a sequence for the comics, the selection of works on view have similar themes and narrative structures. Beginning with the Martians’ initial exploration of Earth, they eventually develop a deeper understanding of and engagement with contemporary society, observing the realities of racism, sexism, and social inequality. Though these struggles persist, when the Martians pass by Earth and see a sign and a raised fist for Black Power, they and the Cosmic Giggles encourage us to laugh and “keep on pushing.”
This April, Institute 193 is publishing the Cosmic Giggles, a graphic novel/comic, featuring over 100 drawings by Williams. This publication is produced in conjunction with the exhibition The Life and Death of Charles Williams at Atlanta Contemporary and an installation of select images from the Cosmic Giggles at Institute 193 (1B) in New York.
Click here to order Cosmic Giggles.
Press:
Local Exhibit Highlights Work of Self-Taught Southern Artist by Felicia Feaster, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 9, 2020
The Plot That Soul Built by Logan Lockner, Burnaway, July 30, 2020
A Soaring Visionary of Afrofuturism and Black Power, by Edward M. Gómez, Hyperallergic, March 28, 2020
Hard-Hitting Humour by Edward M. Gómez, Raw Vision, March 2020
Review: Contemporary’s “Charles Williams” Tells Story of Pencils, Empowerment, Despair by David S. Cohen, ARTS ATL, February 26, 2020
Atlanta Contemporary Displays Works of Charles Williams, An Artist with Many Styles by Ryan McFadin, WABE, January 30, 2020