Not an easy search for an outsider like
myself. But It’s been mentioned to me that
biker art has much to do with pinups. I
actually tend to disagree.
Biker art is
very fetishistic. It’s really all about the
machine- that appears in
unbelievable
detail- more than the bikers. It’s
also a lot about the life style and
surroundings of the bikers. Be it
an open road winding into nature or
old
midwest American farms. On the other
hand, it’s probably the only niche I
know where the men are more focal than
the women and they’re not any type of
mainstream sexy. All that said, I’d like
to focus on the pinup side of biker art.
The Harley Davidson Art
Gallery
What better place to
start than the biggest brand name in
biker culture, Harley Davidson.
The
Harley
Davidson Art Gallery is an online
shop, spilling over with biker gifts.
That’s where I found this beauty,
drafted in 1927 by Dan Stuckenschneider
(whom I couldn’t find much about, except
that he’s
still illustrating
,
she’s a real art art nouveau. (where I
believe pinups got their start.) This
flapper (the more promiscuous ladies of
their time) shows very clearly how sex
and biker culture would always mesh
together. This is very possibly due to
these early Davidson ads, connecting the
two together: If you buy the bike- you
get the sexy girl.
Skipping straight to 1988, David Uhl makes a
retro Woman of Harley series, with pencil
skirt beauties fixing their makeup or
lighting their cigars.
Later artists show an interesting array of
style’s and talent:
Brigitte Bardot’s Harley Obsession
It
used to be rare to see a woman on a
motorcycle, but today,
female
riders representing the fastest-growing
segment of the motorcycle industry.
While women were known to ride ever
since Harley’s inception (such as
Janet
Davidson, legendary Vivian Bale,
Elizabeth
Taylor and many others), it’s still
a scarce site.
Since we are pinup-centered here, take a look
at Brigitte Bardot’s musical debute,
dedicated to er own Harley Davidson, in 1967.
Update: 8.4.08
I managed to translate the lyrics to this
silly song, with Google and a friend that
claims to know something. Let me know if
you know better
:
I don't need anybody
On a Harley Davidson
I don't know anybody
On a Harley Davidson
I squeeze the clutch
And leave the ground
I'll go to heaven,
On a train to hell.
I don't need anybody
On a Harley Davidson
I don't need anybody
On a Harley Davidson
And if I die tomorrow
It was my destiny
I wish less for life
Than my terrible engine's
I don't need anybody
On a Harley Davidson
I don't need anybody
On a Harley Davidson
When I feel the way
My machine Judders,
it raises my desire
In the pit of my stomach
I don't need anybody
On a Harley Davidson
I don't need anybody
On a Harley Davidson
I go over than one hundred,
And fire fills my blood,
Let me die
The wind in my hair
Let me die
The wind in my hair
And that would explain the crazy hair
tossing...
The Best Biker Pinups are all over the
Web
Pinups are just not the focal point
of biker sites. Apparently bikers only really
care about their bikes. The addition of a hot
babe is not mandatory, but is very much a
blessed one. This lead me to sites such as
BMFcycles, a bike
shop site that showcases a different,
classic-style pinup, on the bottom of
almost every page.
I also found
Pamela
Shanteau’s website. Shanteau is an
airbrush artist, who teaches as well as
paints. Her images are very unique and
the pinups are very much fantasy art.
I also found this lovely Elvgren knockoff:
Biker culture is rapidly changing. Women are
coming in faster and faster.
The pink Harley is already out there,
beckoning us girly girls to join in the
endless plains of America.
Dreaming of my pink Harley,
Tags: Biker Art, Biker pinups, Harley Davidson, David Uhl, Brigitte Bardot, Female riders, Pamela Shanteau, Gil Elvgren
