A Fascination With the ‘50s

Songwriter-artist Allee Willis makes her three-dimensional “paintings” out of Rambler hubcaps, Frigidaire handles, Popeye Spinach cans, pea-green and pink Melmac dishes and Brownie cameras. You could say the ‘50s-style art really began as therapy.

Churning out 100 pop songs a year, “by 1983, I was burned out and had writer’s block,” says Willis, who has co-written music and lyrics for about 600 tunes by Patti LaBelle, Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock and others. “I had cut a lot of hits, and I knew I was in danger of turning into one of those people who would make a lot of money and have no fun anymore.”

So, retreating to her garage, Willis tried her untrained hand at art, mining her massive collection of “Atomic ‘50s” artifacts.

“I rolled out this huge piece of paper, glued TV knobs on it, used house paint and poster paint, ripped up old Life magazines, stayed up all night, did this piece and sold it the next day for $1,200. . . . With the art, whatever I wanted to do was just right.”

Willis shared a Grammy with the Pointer Sisters for “Neutron Dance” from the box-office smash “Beverly Hills Cop,” but, she says, always having crafted songs for other people, the art “could be about what I wanted to say.”

What Willis wanted to say is now on view in her first major American gallery show. The exhibit, today through July 23 at the Dorothy Goldeen Gallery in Santa Monica, is titled “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” after the Pet Shop Boys’ Top-10 hit she co-wrote.

“I think anyone can look at this stuff and see something they relate to. On the other hand, they can look at it and go, ‘Man, is that weird’ ,” says Willis. “The trick behind everything I do--the art, the music and me--is being comfortable with who you are.”