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Art of the Lowrider

Artwork by Ruben Olmos and Corona. Text and images by Evan Hatch.

Car door detail
Psycho. Passenger door detail, Ruben Olmos

 

Great lowrider vehicles draw attention. They capture the spectator’s eye with chromed detailing, art work, super-active hydraulics, audio systems, and tricked-out interiors. The Lowyalty Car Club, based out of Burlington, North Carolina, is home to some of the most creative and driven lowrider artists working in the field today. Ruben Olmos and Corona are two of Lowyalty’s artists.

As a car club, Lowyalty values ingenuity, creativity, and technique in all aspects of lowrider construction and presentation. Artistic execution is highly prized, with the cars acting as canvas for the individual artist’s imagination. Every detail is calculated and executed with great care. The details add up to startlingly beautiful completed artworks. The complete lowrider is the big show, but the show is all about the details coming together without seams showing.

Within the artists Ruben Olmos’ and Corona’s lowrider work, spectators can expect to get lost in the looking and the experience. These lowriders are works of careful planning and design, where the detail distills to honor their creators’ muse.

Ruben Olmos is a 2009 Brown-Hudson Award winner. He will be demonstrating and showing in the One State, Many Worlds area of the 2016 National Folk Festival, September 10 and 11, curated by NC Folk and the North Carolina Arts Council.

 

IMG_3021
Corona. Hood detail, Corona.

 

 

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Psycho. Hood detail, Ruben Olmos.

 

 

Corona. Interior detail, Corona.
Corona. Interior detail, Corona. The artist’s themes are carried through with patterned velvet, chromed detail, and the installation of swiveling john-boat seats for driver and passenger.

 

 

IMG_3023
Psycho. Side panel detail, Ruben Olmos. The artist’s landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Musings, NC Field, Tradition Bearers, Uncategorized Tagged With: cars, corona, lowrider, material culture, Ruben Olmos

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