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After seven years of touring nationally, an exhibition of hyper-realistic automobile and motorcycle paintings rides to its final stop at the Las Cruces Museum of Art, 491 N. Main St.
A 1950’s Cadillac El Dorado, a Harley Davidson motorcycle engine and a blue Corvette are just a few of the hyper-realistically painted vehicles in the exhibit.
“It kind of makes your jaw drop to think that someone painted these,” David J. Wagner, the curator, said. “A lot of people say, ‘Wow, that looks just like a photograph’ … It’s better than a photograph; it’s painted.’”
Wagner curated "LUSTER: Realism and Hyperrealism in Contemporary Automobile and Motorcycle Painting." He owns his own art exhibition business after being a museum director for over 20 years.
“One thing that struck me is that [the paintings] had a common sort of thread to it visually speaking,” Wagner said. “They all had this sheen, this shine, this reflection - LUSTER in other words.”
LUSTER premiered at the Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida, during bike week in the spring of 2018. The exhibition was initially set for a two-year run, but its success led to a longer stint. Wagner is most proud of landing a spot at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky, where the paintings were hung next to the actual models of the vehicles they depicted.
When preparing for an exhibition, Wagner said he has an equation that prioritizes quality and diversity in both the artists he features and the art itself. He chose an ensemble of 15 painters of various backgrounds. Each shared two-to-five of their favorite pieces to exhibit.
“I didn’t want to have one work per artist because I didn’t feel that that would visually represent the breadth and the depth of their artistry,” Wagner said.
Museum goers can still enjoy the exhibit, even if they’re not car and motorcycle aficionados, Wagner said. He praised the beauty found in the design and composition of the pieces.
One of the artists in the show, Lory Lockwood, leans into the more creative side of capturing these vehicles, often doing close-up paintings.
“It’s not so much about the Porsche or the Ferrari or the chrome pipes on some hot rod bike,” Wagner said. “It’s the abstract elements of a vehicle that she has taken and covered in a meta level.”
Other artists like Kirk Lybecker, Harold D. Zabady and Joseph Santos chose to paint these popular cars of the old days with rust, chipped paint and stacked in junk yards; the luster it once had faded with time.
The exhibition at the Museum of Art in downtown Las Cruces, which started May 23 and will run until August 16, is LUSTER’s 20th venue and final tour stop.
Wagner said when he thinks of New Mexico, he thinks of low-riders, and, because of that, Las Cruces feels like a good place to put the brake on.
“I’m very proud to have the exhibition at the Las Cruces Museum of Art as the grand finale,” Wagner said. “I hope a lot of low-rider people come out and see the show.”
