Located in Houston, Texas is the private contemporary art museum called ArtCar Museum. Also referred to as “Garage Mahal” this museum opened in February 1998 with its emphasis on art cars, fine arts, and various artists that are rarely seen in some cultural institutions. The museum aims to elevate awareness of the economic, political, and personal aspects of art.
Founded by Ann Harithas who is an artist, and a long-time supporter of the Art Car movements as well as the former director, James Harithas of Corcoran Gallery of Art. The museum has a showroom that celebrates the spirit of the post-modern age of car culture that the artists have remodeled stock cars to the specifications of idiosyncratic images and visions. This museum is featuring lowriders, mobile contraptions, and elaborate art cars and also organizes several temporary exhibitions by local Houston and international artists.
The Essence of ArtCar Museum
The history of privately owned vehicles is fundamental to this century. The art car is a revolutionary extension of this history and is in the process of transforming the automobile into a potent new personal symbol. An art car is a motor-driven vehicle that a car artist alters in such a way as to suit his aesthetic. In other words, the artist either adds or subtracts materials of his choosing to or from the factory model or he may renovate an earlier model to revive beauty and style that once was. The result is a vehicle that conveys new meaning through design, mechanical or structural changes, renovation, and/or the addition of new images, symbols, or collage elements.
The art car is revolutionary in the sense that it reclaims the vehicle for the individual and proclaims independence and diversity which is in sharp contrast to the increasingly conventional and impersonal automobiles and trucks that are currently being produced. More often than not, the art car has an earthiness, a witty or exotic appearance which the new computer-designed factory models lack. On one level, art cars can be seen as a popular movement engaged in rescuing the automobile from corporate uniformity. In so doing, art cars are reviving the sense of individuality that is in decline in our society. On another level, the art car represents the degree to which minorities, subcultures, and modern artists continue to influence the cultural life of the United States. A1 Bed Bug Exterminator Houston
Exhibition Gallery
- The Car Show
- What I Did On My Vaccination
- The Works Of Brian Zievert and Danilo Stampalija
- Landscape
- Fernando Casa and Susanne Thea
- Daniel Kramer
- Then and Now
Address: 140 Heights Blvd., Houston, TX
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