Artists: Alanna Airitam, Jo Ann Block, Danny Lyon, Olivier Mosset, Frankie Orozco, Max Presneill, Ronald Price, Melanie Sapina, Marcus Sendlinger
From the early ‘bikers’, often soldiers returning home from World War II, with a drive for excitement and camaraderie, a sub-culture arose that has had profound influences on culture at large – from skateboarding, to fashion, to the movies. Motorcycle culture’s public persona, especially via movies like The Wild One (1953), Scorpio Rising (1964), Easy Rider (1969) and currently The Bikeriders (2024), has reflected ideas of counter-culture and notions of freedom and individuality, in ways that have impacted the broader culture and for the non-conformist elements of society.
This makes for rich journeys of exploration for many contemporary artists who see the connection between riding motorcycles and the artistic struggle to capture moments of liberation in their work, as well as critique mainstream societal structures. With the simpatico idealizations of artistic practice some artists have fused the two terrains by incorporating aspects of motorcycle culture into their praxis to both extol the virtues of these elements of autonomy and escape as well as provide a critical context of culture at large. These artists have embedded themselves within this sub-culture, or investigated and used it as a significant aspect of their practice, and in so doing have exposed the underlying impetus for those who connect to it and a wider understanding of its allure.
The desire to reach completion of the self through riding a motorcycle, the attraction of rebellion, the rejection of societal coding and expectations, the lure of ’the road’ and wanderlust, the aestheticizing of experiences, the mythologizing of outsider status – all of these themes are reflected upon through this exhibition. From the use of the motorcycle as an expression of a lifestyle, to documentation of its histories, this exhibition will both celebrate and critique this subculture.
