© 2002 Ben Law-Viljoen
Pictures of bicycles. Paintings and hand made prints. Each piece starts with observation. Me in the studio looking at and responding to the bike. Bicycles are important, beautiful, and worth a close look.
This body of work started in 1996 when I got a bike and began riding for transportation in NYC. Riding was a great discovery and opened the city for me. I started borrowing bikes from the people I met and painting from them in the studio to celebrate and record my community.
I paint bikes because
-they are beautiful.
-self-propelled, that makes them a powerful positive symbol of independence, freedom and possibility.
-once unique and universal.
-interesting to make compositions with
-each reflects the design of it’s era.
-I love having something positive at the center of my work.