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Driven to Distraction

Personal vehicles—wagons, bicycles, cars, motorcycles—played a major role in the development of twentieth-century New Mexico and its visual arts. Many New Mexicans are passionate advocates of their "wheels." Frank Harlow considers his 1940 Harley-Davidson motorcycle to be kinetic sculpture, and wants it to be seen as a work of art.

Distinctions between fine art and kitsch often become obscured as private forms of transportation spurred the development of popular arts as well as traditional arts such as painting and sculpture. As an example of this blurring of categories, local artists, including Carol Sarkisian, often combine their own works with their personal collections of popular culture and works by artist friends.



On Display January 25 through May 12, 2002 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe