Extreme Motorcycle Art

By: Spencer Drate, Judith Salavetz .

This lavishly illustrated book showcases more than fifty of the top international motorcycle artists, studios, custom bike-builders, and bike shops. As the first comprehensive survey of the best custom bike-painting from around the world, it captures the original thinking and stunning creativity that have come to characterize this genre, and finally gives motorcycle artists the recognition they have long deserved.

Custom bike-building has become a hot media topic in recent years, and painting is seen as an ever more important part of the process. As legendary bike-builder Indian Larry put it, the bike is a sculpture combined with painting." All the artists included in this book reveal a common purpose: they insist that each painting be original and unique, and they strive to convey the personality of the rider-customer. Painting on saddlebags, tanks, and fenders—as opposed to the regular surfaces of canvas and paper—presents exciting challenges. As Extreme Motorcycle Art shows, motorcycle painters are responding convincingly.

While some of the painters included here have conventional art training, the majority of them are largely self-taught. They develop their ideas and skills by staying close to the metal and rubber, not by contemplating abstractions in the studio. They are immersed in the throbbing culture of bike building and riding, and, most importantly, they all love that culture intensely.

Extreme Motorcycle Art features stunning photographs of the completed bikes, close-ups of the artworks, and detailed technical specifications of the customized components of the bikes depicted. Full contact information for every artist is also provided, making this a dream book for motorcycle fans worldwide.

308 illustrations in full color

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