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William N. Copley

Feasting a Fawning Parasite, or Glutting a Harlot's Purse; from "The Song of the Wage Slave"

$7,000–10,000
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signed “cpLy” lower right; titled and inscribed “Feasting a Fawning Parasite, or glutting a Harlot's Purse from The Song of the Wage Slave Page 25” on the reverse
ink and graphite on paper
24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
Executed in 1994, in the United States.

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William N. Copley

American | B. 1919 D. 1996

William N. Copley, also known by the name of CPLY, drew attention to himself in the late 1940s by fusing elements of Surrealism and Pop Art.  Copley focused on symbols of American pop culture—staples of American society including pin-up girls, cowboys and the flag—and transformed them into more accessible, universal icons that could appeal to both men and women without bias.

In the '70s, Copley distinguished himself from the rest of the Surrealists by attempting to represent the tumultuous relationship between erotic and pornographic symbolism. He celebrated the female body, sexual freedom and, most of all, the promiscuity of America.

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