The Ancient Greeks (Plato more specifically) established a hierarchy in the arts by elevating the purely contemplative art forms from the lower functional crafts. This idea again struck me as I was taking down yet another of my gallery installations and jamming the mere functional remains into a dumpster. I had adopted a belief that artistic expression was a vital bridge, spanning the distance between idea and reality, which in turn, established the possibility for transfer of both mental insight and physical experience to the viewer. It was through this belief that I made artworks for the gallery.

However, back in 1987, in a parking lot, in a dumpster, I had questions. I could envision a painting which inspired awe throughout the gallery, being relocated in the parking lot, where every patron would drive over it, as they backed their cars out and headed home. I saw that the gallery had become the sanctuary for the pure, contemplative art object, and that the gallery walls protected it from the realities of functional mundanely. This rarified space, filled with what appeared to be objects which could not support life on their own, seemed completely non-vital to me. I was moved to reincorporate the contemplative and functional in a body of work.

The bicycle, I thought, would be the natural vehicle. Aesthetically it engages the viewer immediately with its figurative suggestions and strong compositional geometries. And, because it is a functional machine with a commonly shared childhood experience, I felt it elicited a kinesthetic accessibility for the viewer as well. Folk wisdom claims that you never forget how to ride a bicycle.

Eventually I became more interested in the exploration of my own personal iconography, as it pertains to this human-amplifying tool. I found the bicycle to be a capable medium for expressing many of my more philosophic musings, and its functional outsider stance lent itself to questioning many insider art world practices. History has shown us that the world of art benefits from new outside creative influences - as witnessed by all the “isms” of the 20th Century - making art relevant and connected within the current culture.

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