Is it Art yet?: Exhibitions

"NO BICYCLE RIDING"
March 2010
BFA: Solo Thesis Exhibition
Brooklyn College, 2900 Bedford

No Bicycle Riding"

Artist Statement

Instalion View

For bicyclists in New York City, the streets can be an unforgiving place. In a city that largely accommodates the automobile, there is a hierarchy in which cyclists and pedestrians can become marginalized and where having the right of way is little consolation after being the victim of an accident. One quickly becomes aware of just how vulnerable you are when not protected by a metal chassis and air bags. Recently, my experiences have become the basis of a body of work.

I use the bicycle as a symbol which can embody a variety of eternal themes: survival, freedom, death, etc. Bicycle carcasses, a frequent sight in New York, are not just garbage; they are a documentation of a person's presence or absence, a symbol of wealth or loss. Educated in anthropology and archeology, I draw connections between contemporary bicycle culture and the artworks and artifacts of the distant past, making reference to ancient fossils and classical antiquity. By juxtaposing the ancient with the modern, the idea of the bicycle and the rider becomes a hybrid entity, embodying traits of both the past and present.