Sleek and slick and fast, hot rods with their souped-up engines and coolly restyled chassis have fired the imaginations of the youth who customize and drive them—and the artists who glorify them. Fantastically painted cars, as well as photographs and art works in other mediums inspired by America's love affair with custom cars, are the subject of this exciting new book, created to accompany an exhibition at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art.
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Von Dutch, Robert Williams, Richard Prince, and Ruben Ortiz Torres are among the contemporary artists who embrace hot rods not just as a means of transportation, but also as shrines to a way of life. Challenging the stereotype that American car culture is the exclusive domain of white males, curator Nora Donnelly highlights the work of women artists Sylvie Fleury and Fiona Banner and the predominantly Latino low riders. With its fabulous images and lively design, here is a book with all the sexy panache of its subject.
Almost since the invention of the automobile, people have been inspired to make their cars bigger, better, and more exciting. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, is celebrating the art of the car in a new exhibit. The 13 artists include car customizer Ed Roth, sculptor Sylvie Fleury, painter Jimi V, and photographer Craig McDean. One of the most exciting objects in the exhibition is Ruben Ortiz Torres's "Alien Toy (Unidentified Cruising Object)," a pickup truck customized with many hydraulic lifts so that various body parts move independently of the main chassis. The catalog's eight essays provide biographical information and place the objects in the context of contemporary art. For cultural studies as well as art collections.--Gwen Gregory, New Mexico State Univ. Lib., Las Cruces Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
