FreeWheeling: Knight Martorell

FreeWheeling

Knight Martorell, Guest Curator

Curator Exhibit Design

FreeWheeling intends to position the viewer within the dynamic dialogue between automobiles displayed as exceptional examples of functional art and the artwork these machines inspire. A contributing subplot within the FreeWheeling experience is the inherent dichotomy of functional works of art.

It’s my personal conviction that the purpose of Art is to alter one’s perception such that, upon turning away from a painting or sculpture, the viewer now considers the world a little differently.

Humans can be sentimental creatures, but nostalgia and sentimentality that only serves to soothe and bolster preexisting perceptions and emotions should never be its sole intention.

With this criteria as a requisite, a relatively small list was compiled of top-tier, award-winning automotive artists whose work stood out as exceptional. Compiling this body of work was never a quest for paintings of cars, but was a search for an artist whose work resonated with the fundamental principles of composition, emphasis, contrast, color theory, figure-ground dynamics, rhythm, and proportion. The works had to be visually, and emotionally engaging regardless of whether the viewer knew, or cared anything about the subject matter of automobiles. Some of the paintings in FreeWheeling are not about cars at all, but contain cars as supporting actors in a compositional narrative.

On a very personal level, curating FreeWheeling has been the marriage of, and the opportunity to share, two great passions in my life, Art and Automobiles. Choreographing this experience, within a contained gallery space also embraced a third passion, architecture.

I grew up in a family infected by the automobile obsession, such that collecting, restoring, displaying, and driving magnificent vintage machines was in many ways a foundation of our upbringing and an ever-present topic in our household.

The deep love for art began when I started sketching, and painting at the age of 9, and continues to be a joy. Following my undergraduate studies in Fine Art, I worked as an illustrator and artist, selling my own paintings for a decade before returning to school to acquire a Masters in Architecture.

It’s my hope that you will find FreeWheeling as exciting and stimulating as it has been for me to be a part of bringing it to you.

Knight Martorell, Guest Curator, FreeWheeling

Knight Martorell