Rebecca Bass' entry
Artist Robynn Sanders at work
Wailing for Sex Jennies provided some live inspiration.
Kim Granneman's entry
The big attitude of the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art's Art Car Parade is scaling down this week for a new partnership that takes on the Mini Cooper car as the canvas of choice. In a partnership between the 2011 Art Car Parade, Houston Art Car Klub and Momentum Motor Cars Houston, local artists are currently painting three all-new 2010 Mini Cooper models into moving works of art.
This afternoon at the lot adjacent to Gallery M Squared, the artists were hunched over car-side, paintbrushes in hand. Robynn Sanders, the winner of the 2009 Art Car Parade, was scrawling the outlines for a robot-themed work.
"The Cooper is not a big muscle car," she explains, "so I thought a friendly robot painting made sense." Sanders has previously painted a Porsche, which was exhibited in venues throughout California.
The band Wailing for Sex Jennies contributed good vibes as renowned art car artist Rebecca Bass effortlessly brushed Peter Max-inspired images onto a cherry red model with Julian Luna. Bass is implementing groovy imagery from the iconic flower power artist's repertoire. "It's all about color," she says.
The project is the brainchild of Stephanie O'Keefe of Momentum BMW-Mini-Audi-VW, who had researched a similar project in Europe in which Mini donated works to artists, which were later displayed in professional art galleries. Her eventual aim is for Cooper car buyers to be able to purchase an Art Car finish to a new vehicle, in which local art car artists would be commissioned to deck out a new Mini.
The mobile art will be taking part in its own Tour of Houston as they are showcased in different venues each night this week. To get a glimpse yourself, refer to this schedule:
Tuesday: Gallery M Squared will host "The Power of Art" event from 12-6 p.m.
Wednesday: Montrose white box Wade Wilson Art hosts the Minis from 12-5 p.m.
Thursday: Ronald McDonald House hosts a private event, in which children will paint their own toy versions of Minis from 12-3 p.m.
Friday: The Art Car Museum babysits the baby cars from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday: White Linen Night in the Heights wraps it all up with the Mini parade from 12-6 p.m.
