Tracing Arcs -Taliah Lempert's Bicycle Paintings
Taliah Lempert does more than trace arcs in her bicycle portraits. It is a completely extravagant concept – a portrait of your bicycle, but wholly indulgent in all the good ways that bikes, our bikes, make us feel. A pristine new bike is only that way once and really in that un-possessed form a wonder to behold, but is not the same as the well used machine that literally transports us. Machine, yes, and more since we’re on a journey wherein our bikes are an extension of our humanity. Even without owning much grace personally, a bike takes places we couldn’t otherwise go either physically or metaphysically, providing us with the style a few of us might otherwise be (im)modestly lacking.
One should never fight with one’s bike – it exists to serve us providing meditation in motion. The best tools do this I think – simple, human powered, transformative. Taliah’s paintings of bicycles are like windows into the life of not only the machine itself, but also the owner of the bike too. Each portrait is simply named along the lines of, “Connie’s Bike on Canvas” or “Trudy’s Seven”. Taliah’s style reminds me of Edward Hopper. Her portraits speak displaying the effort the rider has invested in the ride. The bikes appear more as horses often in need of rest, or waiting for the rider to come take them away. Sometimes melancholy and sometimes hopeful her bicycle portraits are a celebration of the union of rider and bicycle.
Having been to Taliah’s home/studio I can say that it is an incredible clutter of bikes and art in progress. It is also a sixth floor loft space shared by a somewhat mutable cast of artists and her boyfriend Dave Perry, who shares her passion for bikes. Dave was a racer a couple of decades ago out in California. Dave is the author of the book, Bike Cult, and the owner of the bike shop in lower east Manhattan, BikeWorks NYC which is truly a cycle cultists heaven and haven.
Having had Taliah display her work in my former Reparto Corse Studio space I can say that the effect on cyclists seeing her portraits is one of thoughtful joy. It’s hard to look at one of her paintings and not smile, or want to go for a ride.
Taliah’s website is www.BicyclePaintings.com. Enjoy the show – order a coloring book for rainy days.
Happy Spring!
