July 25 marks the 73rd birthday of S. Clay Wilson, one of the most influential visual artists of the second half of the 20th century. Among the first wave of underground cartoonists — later branching out into illustration and gallery art — his virtually unrestrained rampages with sex and violence — but humerously, always humerously — won him praise from R. Crumb and Robert Hughes, William Burroughs and Sir Kenneth Clark. He was compared to Hogarth and exhibited with Bosch.
On November 1, 2008, under still mysterious circumstances, Wilson sustained frontal lobe damage and a broken neck. He survived but remains unable to care for himself. He and his wife Lorraine, herself disabled, live in a small apartment, dependent on Social Security and contributions to The S. Clay Wilson Special Needs Trust. If you can spare a check — or just a card, for Wilson enjoys having mail read to him, the address is POB 14854, San Francsico 94114.
For a taste of Wilson, my interview of him, which I believe is the last he gave, is on-line at http://www.tcj.com/the-s-clay-wilson-interview/