Eyes on the Road: Art of the Automotive Landscape
OPENING MARCH 30, 2024
1st Floor | Hammer Gallery
Artists featured in Eyes on the Road include Ed Ruscha, Vik Muniz, Andy Warhol, Mr. Brainwash, Allan D'Arcangelo, David Hockney, Carlos Almaraz, Roger Kuntz, and many more.
Join us for our Exhibit Opening Reception on March 29th!
Vik Muniz (b. 1961), Standard Station (Night), after Ed Ruscha, 2008. Digital chromogenic print mounted on aluminum. Courtesy of J. Carter Tutwiler
About the Exhibition
In the early decades of the 20th century, automobile ownership saw tremendous growth in the United States—with one motor vehicle per every five Americans by 1929—and a new motoring landscape evolved to accommodate the increase in car travel. For over a century, civil engineers, automotive designers, architects, and graphic artists have worked, often without credit, to create highway systems and the vehicles that traverse them, along with standardized signage and roadside amenities that have become so commonplace that they are largely taken for granted.
Modern and contemporary artists, however, have long noticed and been inspired by the world in which the automobile operates and have responded to it in their work. Eyes on the Road brings the often-overlooked “art” of the highway together with artistic representations of this visual culture, highlighting the role of the car in shaping the country’s built environment and drawing new attention to the world around us.
CURATED BY THE PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM AND GUEST CURATOR JIM FARBER
Featured Artworks
Artworks are subject to change without notice.
Ed Ruscha (b. 1937), Blank Signs #1, 2004. Etching and aquatint. Courtesy of the artist
Mr. Brainwash (b. 1966), Einstein, 2018. Stencil and mixed media on metal street sign. Courtesy of the artist
Harry B. Chandler (b. 1953), Long Beach 710 x Century 105 #2.3, 2014. Acrylic and inkjet on paper mounted on board. Courtesy of the artist
Vik Muniz (b. 1961), Standard Station (Night), after Ed Ruscha, 2008. Digital chromogenic print mounted on aluminum. Courtesy of J. Carter Tutwiler
Ed Ruscha (b. 1937), Rusty Signs—Dead End 1, 2014. Mixografia print on handmade paper. Courtesy of the artist
Featured Vehicles
Vehicles are subject to change without notice.
1956 American Motors Astra-Gnome Concept
Engine: 1.5-liter inline-4 | Horsepower: 55 | Top Speed: 80 mph
The Astra-Gnome was Richard Arbib’s vision of what a car would look like in the year 2000. American Motors Corporation hired Arbib to design the car, which was built on a 1955 Nash Metropolitan chassis. The body was manufactured by Andrew Mazzara and featured changeable colored aluminum panels, and the wheels were hidden behind full fender skirts to suggest a floating hovercraft. The vehicle was a highlight of the 1956 New York Auto Show and was featured on the cover of Newsweek. The Astra-Gnome was the epitome of futuristic space-age design that flourished in the 1950s.
COLLECTION OF METROPOLITAN PIT STOP
