The Collector: Irvin Tepper, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Artist/Professor of Fine Art and Industrial Design at the Pratt Institute, New York.

The Collection: Documenting Artcars.

The story behind the collection…

I have been photographing the art car movement since 1995. These particular images have also recently been featured in a solo exhibition ‘Art Car Central’ curated by Ann Harithas, at the Nave Museum, Victoria, Texas (US). There were 42 large photos in the exhibition.

People make artcars in order to express their individuality through a visual creative language applied to the vehicles they drive for all to see. The themes of humor, politics, religion, decoration, and reinvention of form are all part of this celebration of freedom to express oneself on their vehicle, making the car into a personal shrine.

The tools that the artcar artist uses to make this transformation are simple everyday low technology processes applying glue, putty, paint, and sometimes using the torch, the grinder, and the hammer to make the car spiritual and a concrete testament to their central idea.

The best of these cars come alive when I see them. That is what I am trying to capture when I take their portrait, catch that moment, and translate the image into a final print. Other solo exhibitions have included shows at the Judy Ann Goldman Fine Art in Boston, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington, DC, and the Art Car Museum in Houston, Texas (US).

See more Artcar images and videos on the Artcar Museum website.

Irvin has a documentary book Vehicles of Havana.

See more of Irvin Tepper's work on his website and on Flickr.

Irvin has also featured on Obsessionistas with his extensive coffee cup collection #0034.

All images © Irvin Tepper and used with his kind permission.