While I’m certainly no artist nor any kind of art critic, I can and do appreciate an art car when I see one. We have no shortage of them on our pages, and while most are interesting expressions of the artist’s inner psyche (or just someone being very bored), some could perhaps just as well have been done by a curious 8-year-old who found the stash of psilocybin mushrooms in the drawer. In opposition I hereby present to you what I believe to be a Modern Art take on the art car.
On the other hand, maybe the dude just had a ruler, an abundance of blue tape, a few cans of leftover paint and is a doctorate student in one of the more exacting disciplines taught at the University of Wyoming. Yes, another sighting of something in Laramie, this time directly across from the somewhat beat set of houses I perhaps foolishly acquired after consuming too much of the “special” eggnog around Christmas.
Anyway, the canvas is a somewhat rare 2-door Jeep Cherokee Sport of the XJ generation, pre-facelift. I’ve always liked this trim level, especially with these wheels which I think date it as a very early 90’s model but someone will know for sure.
I believe the owner lives in the house in the background, or perhaps I am just making a connection between all the rectangles.
Check out my own neighbor’s sweet little 1947 Willys in the background with the tarp over it. One day it’ll be untarped and I will be there to capture it. The Blazer behind the Cherokee is interesting as well. In fact the whole neighborhood is one of those CC-intense experiences.
But back on topic, what is this style or influence? My first thought was of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian but his works are generally (but not always) much brighter and vivid. But what if this Jeep had started out white or red or yellow instead of Charcoal Gray?
Then the term “Cubism” came to mind.
While the colors are (generally, cubism is a wide genre) closer to the subject, the rest of it isn’t at all correct, I was thinking way too literally. So in what style, if anything, is this Jeep? Or maybe there is no style and I need to quit thinking about it so hard and just enjoy it for what it is.
Ooh, it looks like the canvas has been damaged a bit at the lower rear. I fear that may not be restorable but if the current owner is the artist then perhaps he (or she?) can wield the brushes again.
That fiberglass hatch looks cracked so…maybe it’ll just stay as is and hopefully at least gain a replacement tail light.
It’s definitely more subtle than most art cars, but perhaps it’s more of a “thinking man’s” piece. What exactly the thought is, well, of that I’m not sure but then again that’s how I perceive a lot of art until I read the little placard (which in this case was missing unless “4.0 Litre High Output” has a deeper meaning). Thank you for allowing me to be your ill-informed docent!
IIRC my sister’s 1993 4 door Cherokee Sport had those wheels. It did not, however, have a paint job like this.
Although I am definitely not an “art car” guy, I actually kind of like this. I could think of worse cars to stare at from my living room window.
I assume the UW in Laramie has an art department? Quite likely the owner has spent a bit of time there.
Did I hear you express some buyer’s remorse? Uh oh. You’re going to turn those little gems into the finest ones in the neighborhood. 🙂
The night is always darkest right before dawn. Although right now I feel like it’s around 1am in the process….ah, I always get like this for a while in the middle then power through it. This morning I replaced the front door that was cracked and had a plexiglass window with a much better one that’s almost 2” thick and has a doublepaned glass window in it that I found in the shed! The sidewalk is being replaced now as well as two window wells dug, that’s the backhoe in the background of a couple of pics…the dawn will come one day, hopefully sooner than later!
I’ve often come close to doing this, but never pulled the (spray paint) trigger.
Why not? When you have a car that’s worth close to zero and you plan to drive it until it’s ready for the junkyard, why not have some fun with it?
I like it. The art matches with the period for the Jeep. And again, it looks like a vehicle where the clear coat was slowly peeling off. In a situation where you can either A) live with a peeling clear coat, B) pay for a respray, or C) get creative, why not C? This is not a pristine collector car, it is fully functional but the paint was bad, so the applied decorations are a viable solution. In this case, the restraint is amazing. Their art is not any more distracting than the optional dealer installed graphics that overwhelmed cars of this period when new.
I agree…they may have wanted to prevent rust or repair orange peel in a couple of spots where the coating wore through and decided that a nice rectangle was better than a fuzzy blob. Then decided to make it into a modern art piece. Way better than most.
I like this type of art car. When I was working in LA I used to see those assemblage type cars with doll’s heads and whatnot covering the surfaces of the poor car. Like this one.
This is Andy Warhol’s version. At least there’s no doll heads!
Now THAT’S an art car…
I’d call it Digital Camo inspired.
That was my thought.
My thought as well. It’s like a digital camo pattern, zoomed in like 100x.
Pretty appropriate for a Jeep, really.
Reminds me of the British Berlin Brigade camo of the 80s and a more recent French Urban camo from the 90s.