Defining Desert Living - Summer 2022

Desert Rider AT PHOENIX ART MUSEUM

BY ALEX JARSON

Growing up in the 90’s, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ ranch in Paradise Valley. It was home to acres of land and an endless supply of things to do. Hollow bodies of ancient automobiles stood guard over the yard, their insides growing with desert brush and brittle weeds. Cowboy saddles and old leather boots hung from tree branches, balancing in the glaring sunset.

These desert icons were symbols of power. Beyond the physicality of the objects themselves, was the idea that they were artifacts of a culture that no longer existed. They were representations of the intangible, symbolic meanings of the land, its people, and their traditions. The Ranch was my Americana.

The Desert Rider Exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum is a celebration of Americana outsider subculture with the spirit of the Southwest. The artists invite us to take a deeper look at the evolution of lowrider, skateboarding, and other Southwest subcultures through the eyes of Latinx, indigenous, and queer people.

What’s immediately obvious is the careful attention the artists paid to the details of the pieces. The paint job on the car that greets you is sleek and vibrant. The chrome is polished, and the tires are well maintained. A giant lowrider piñata decorated in pink flair sits up on its back two wheels like a pouncing jaguar. A driver’s uniform hangs on the wall like the uniform of an ancient warrior, made up of thousands of individual chromatic beads. Airbrushed portraits of the iconic women of Low Rider Magazine remind us they are the backbone of this movement.

Lowriders are about authenticity, self-expression, and the power one feels behind the wheel of their favorite car. Where else can you find an old East-German Trabant stitched together with a lowrider El Camino? The artist of that particular piece, Liz Cohen, turned her garage into her own Frankenstein’s laboratory, where she carved out car

parts to fit together, training her body at the same time to present the finished car as a bikini showroom model. The symbiotic relationship between the medium and its creator, and the brave push to explore all sides of one’s identity is what makes this exhibition so unique.

Past the vehicles, there are saddles with holographic seats and crocodile print, heart-shaped exhaust pipes pop with color out the back end, and the plush emerald green you’d find on the body of a jukebox. Craft and care are embraced by a cultural nostalgia. Every piece, a thousand stories we all immediately see and feel.

Fluidity is at the heart of Desert Rider.

The desert sand weaves endlessly, ever changing, as mountains of mesquite stand tall and proud. Every evening,

a spectacular sky swirls into a glowing sunset, so immediate it always takes my breath away. It reminds me that the desert is a place of freedom, where anything is possible.

And that’s the best part about this exhibition - you don’t feel like you’re in a museum. Fluidity is not just a state of mind, it’s a way of being. When it hits you, you’re just inspired. The Desert Rider is the captain of her own domain. Whether she glides across the pavement effortlessly on a skateboard, or she hits the switch to her hydraulics, every push forward is an act of liberation. For a brief moment, the picture slows down.

We see her riding. The wind flows through her hair, the smell of exhaust in the air. It’s independence, liberty, and control. She flows through the culture around her.

The Desert Rider reminds us that we don’t live in a vacuum. Sociopolitical realities shape the landscape, and our lives are defined by them. But if we keep our eyes open, we can blend the past into something new and exciting.

Desert Rider is on display at the Phoenix Art Museum until September 18, 2022.

Featured works pictured on these pages are by the following artists: Justin Favela, Margarita Cabrera, Liz Cohen, Sam Fresquez and Douglas Miles.