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With works
selected by juror Bart Parker, noted photographer and Professor Emeritus at
the University of Rhode Island, "Car Culture" examines the relationship
of women, men and society to the car - as aesthetic object, cultural icon,
gas guzzler and political tool. This exhibition show-
cases work
from 26 artists living in 11 states, including some artists as local
as Narragansett, with others working from New Hampshire to Oregon.
Each individual piece represents not only a unique perspective on
the car, but a personalized
use of the media. Photo-
graphy is a
popular choice, with 9 artists working in black
and white, color, digital and photo collage. Though the choice
of medium is a constant among this group
of artists, the images,
themes and con-
cepts have little in common.
A photo installation by Rhode Island resident Erik
Gould focuses on road-
side memorials in a series of quiet
and reflective black and white images. The collection of 20 framed
photos (right) tenderly speaks to the personal and homemade aspect
to these memorials, while combining them to create an impersonal,
yet greater memorial.
With a very different eye behind the camera, Stuart
Larson,
an artist
based in Texas, captures a car decorated with faces
of the current administration, complete with an
effigy of
George W. Bush riding a
silver missile on the roof, giving mobility
to a political statement (left).
"Car Culture" artists working in sculpture and installation
represent their views using materials as diverse as porcelain, seen
in New Hampshire resident Christina Pitsch's
delicate, miniature cast trucks (right), to painted bent laminated
plywood, carefully and accurately created in
the replication of a
Nascar hood by Canadian, and RISD student, Theo Richardson.
Three-dimensional artists speak to the shape, size and power of the car,
demanding attention through scale, alluring aesthetics and garish beauty.
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The two-dimensional artists exhibiting in Hera Gallery's
"Car Culture" work in the mediums of
oil, acrylic and
water-
color painting, digital image-making, printmaking, collage,
and fiber arts.
Massachusetts artist, Christiane
Corcelle-Lippeveld
explores the process of solar etching and hand coloring images
(left), giving dream-
like qualities to images of cars of
the past,
while Providence artist,
Brian
O'Malley uses
new printing techniques including oil ink jet to create explosive
images that present the car as a weapon.
In recent months, Americans have been forced to examine a part
of their lives, for many as essential as food and shelter: the car. With
the steep rise in the price of gasoline, and the predictions for a steady
increase, the car’s role as the dominant mode of transportation is
a serious concern for the entire country. No fundamental change in
American driving habits has become mainstream, nor has a single attitude
towards the car come to represent a collective American opinion. Some Americans
view cars as a necessary evil, and some see them as an earned luxury.
The works in "Car
Culture" reflect this as well. For artists across the country
there exist ideo-
logically and socially diverse opinions toward the
car. Some images depict a form of worship,
as others become a form
of worship themselves. Other images are steadfast in their illustration
of an unhealthy relationship between Americans and the car; while
many others attempt to navigate the complexities of living entrenched
in American car culture.
Though the sounds of protest can be heard on Main Street in Wakefield,
there are a number of quiet homages to the car as an American icon.
The common link between these pieces is that the car of worship,
is the car of the past. Whether it is a hot rod, gleaming red, poised
in the vast openness of the American landscape, or a collection
of vintage autos captured in the loving detail of black and white
photography, these pieces are memorials to an American past. This is a
past some artists clearly pay their respects to, while others see it as
having paved the road for today’s "Car
Culture".
This exhibition is presented with partial support from The Rhode
IslandState Council on the Arts, Hera Educational Foundation,
and The Friends of Hera. |
