There’s something fantastic in the New York Times.
As an honorary Southerner and a political conservative, that isn’t a phrase that I write very often.
But, it’s absolutely true when it comes to the Times article about the automotive art from the Age of Optimism.
The Age of Optimism refers to a magical time that gearheads know as the age of the muscle car… The time before the OPEC and the emissions standards regulated the horsepower out of the American car business…
At any rate, a Louisville, Kentucky curator and a retired GM designer have teamed up to preserve the few remaining drawing created by car designers of the time.
They are to be part of what will be a wonderful exhibit for fans of vintage performance cars at the Visual Art Association’s building in Louisville. The exhibit opened on Friday and will run untill November 10th.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/automobiles/collectibles/26MUSCLE.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.louisvillevisualart.org/Designing%20an%20Icon/DesigningAnIcon.htm
Reception for the artists is Sunday, September 16th. Â Would be fun to meet William Porter, a veteran of GM design who worked for the corporation during the tenure of five different presidents and had a hand in designing the Pontiac GTO and Trans Am.
Thanks for spreading the word about this show of original designer art work created, at the time, in utmost secrecy. Fortunately some of it has survived and the Louisville Visual Art Association exhibition provides a first-time look at the creative process (creative team work was boiling over in those years!) that led to the exciting products of the so-called Musclecar Era. I hope as many art lovers as possible can visit the show and gain a little insight into what went into the “hollow rolling sculpture” of the period. There are examples of the visual thought processes from Chrysler, Ford, and GM, a little something for every enthusiast.