THE SPIN CYCLE: FAT MARK BIKES AND TRIKES AS OBJETS D’ART

February 19, 2005 through March 12, 2005

Track 16 Gallery is pleased to present concurrent exhibitions: Ghost Writers and Automatics, two painting series by Don Ed Hardy, The Spin Cycle: Fat Mark Bikes and Trikes as Objets d’Art, custom bicycles built by Fat Mark and cohorts, and “Bicycle Gangs of New York.” an installation by Cheryl Dunn. The exhibitions run from February 19, 2005 through March 12, 2005, with an opening reception on February 19 from 6 to 10 P.M.

THE SPIN CYCLE: FAT MARK BIKES AND TRIKES AS OBJETS D’ART
February 19, 2005 through March 12, 2005

This exhibition traces the transformation of the mode of transportation commonly known as “the bike” from merely functional and utilitarian, to “objet d’art.” One of most recognized interpreter of this phenomenon is Fat Mark Kaake, custom low-rider-bike-builder extraordinaire.

Rising from the bottomless pit of urban Long Beach, within viewing distance of the legendary V.I.P. Records, Fat Mark Kaake has been building lowrider bikes since the tender age of ten. Juan Gonzales, a family friend, profoundly influenced Fat Mark to create fender kits and bicycle accessories that have now become the template that ninety percent of all lowrider bike designers use to begin building. In 1996, at the age of 13, Fat Mark won several design and installation titles at the L.A. Lowrider Supershow. Since then, Fat Mark has aligned himself with the “Seven Seven Cartel,” (a group of Long Beach artists associated with both art and music) who take the functional and transform it into art. Some of the pieces in this exhibition are Fat Mark’s collaborations with other artists including: Opie Ortiz, tattoo artist; Marco Saiz, graphic designer; J. Knight, custom auto painter; Justin Reynolds, skateboarder; Steve Faweley, artist; and C.R. Stecyk, artist.

Fat Mark has a background in art direction, and has designed layouts for such clients as the bands Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, JWD, and Capitol Eye, and for the company, Skunk Records. Fat Mark now aged twenty two, has been invited on several occasions to present the culture of the lowrider bike to the art community, most recently his work has been included in the Laguna Art Museum’s exhibition, The OsCene: Contemporary Art and Culture in OC, a survey exhibition of Orange County artists working in all media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, multi-media installations, video/film, sound/music, architecture, fashion, and tattoo.