”Automotive design is truly an art form,” said Maggie C. North, curator of art at the Springfield Museums, explaining that a new exhibition at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts is both a celebration of the technical skill of talented painters as well as an exploration of car design.
LUSTER: Realism and Hyperrealism in Contemporary Automobile and Motorcycle Painting — a traveling exhibition comprised of more than 50 paintings by 14 of today’s realist and hyperrealist artists who specialize in automobiles and motorcycles as their primary subject — is open through Aug. 23.
The title of the exhibition speaks to the style of painting and the subject matter that visitors can expect to see. “Using photographs as references, realist and hyperrealist artists create incredibly naturalistic images,” North said.
The exhibition focuses on the work of artists who apply their realist techniques to automotive subjects. “Many are attracted to the technical challenge of depicting the polished or reflective surfaces of cars and motorcycles,” she said.
The exhibition was produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.
“Like the shiny automobiles and motorcycles they portrayed, paintings of these new-age artists can be characterized by the luster that permeates their work,” he has written.
Some paintings are finished with a glossy varnish, others use high contrast colors, and others are painted on aluminum to achieve a certain luster.
“This exhibition is both a celebration of the technical skill of talented painters as well as an exploration of car design,” North said.
Although the works on view depict a range of vehicles from a 1937 Oldsmobile to a 2013 Harley-Davidson, many of the artists featured focus on vehicles produced around the mid-20th century or earlier.
“In the 1940s, car manufacturers in the United States began to integrate features such as running boards and headlights into artfully designed vehicle bodies,” North said. “Coinciding with the expansion of the interstate highway system, car sales grew and innovators added fun and stylish details such as chrome accents and tail fins. As numerous works in LUSTER demonstrate, the innovative designs of mid-century automobile makers continue to fascinate and inspire fine artists today.”
Many of the artists featured in LUSTER are car or motorcycle enthusiasts. Colorado artist Marc G. Jone’ grew up repairing and rebuilding cars in his family’s garage, and Oregon-based painter Guenevere Schwien began riding motorcycles in college. “However, all of the artists in the exhibition are drawn to the formal qualities of engines, pipes, polished car bodies, and reflective surfaces,” North said. “A passion for vehicles, coupled with a desire to explore light, form, and color, are factors that drive many contemporary automotive artists.”
Much like the clothes people choose or the way they decorate their homes, cars have the power to help individuals make a statement. “Although some people think of cars simply as means of transportation, the most stylish vehicles draw crowds at car shows or are placed on display in museum exhibits,” she elaborated. “The artwork featured in LUSTER draws on a range of associations with cars. In America, cars and motorcycles are often associated with freedom, mobility, adventure and patriotism.”
The visual history of car and motorcycle design finds special meaning in Springfield, a city that played a key role in the history of automobile and motorcycle production. In addition to being the site of Charles and J. Frank Duryea’s 1893 test of America’s first successful gasoline powered vehicle, Springfield was home to the Knox Automobile Company, a Stevens-Duryea Company plant, the Atlas Motor Car Company, an important Rolls-Royce manufacturing plant, and the Indian Motocycle Company. North invites visitors to enjoy this art exhibition as well as the collection of classic cars and Indian motorcycles on view at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History.
For more than 100 years, cars and motorcycles have not only traveled America’s streets and highways, but have played an important role in film, top forty musical hits and in fine art, she explained.
“Cars and motorcycles are powerful machines that can also be beautiful. Although not a car collector myself, I can imagine that owning a beautiful automobile is a bit like owning a beautiful painting: both are manmade constructions that reflect the aspirations of their creators and tell us something about the society in which they were made,” she said.
Visitors who see this exhibition will also notice a selection of automobile related songs playing in the gallery. These songs, and the works on view, speak to the extent to which cars have become integrated into everyday life and American art.
Paintings in the exhibition range from 15 inches high by 24 inches wide to 48 inches high by 96 inches wide. It features oil, acrylic and watercolors used on surfaces like canvas, aluminum and wood panels.
“We are delighted to celebrate the reopening of the museums through this special exhibition of exceptional paintings of cars and motorcycles,” said Heather Haskell, director of the art museums and vice president of the Springfield Museums. “The depictions are outstanding examples of photorealism and hyperrealism and stunning in their detail.”
She also suggested visitors explore the Contemporary Gallery where they will find additional examples of photorealism, including a large painting by American artist Don Eddy of a Volkswagen, one of his favorite subjects to paint in the 1970s.
For more information, go to springfieldmuseums.org.