The fifth annual Chopper’s Art Show, sponsored by the Hells Angels to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, is moving from its traditional LoDo location to a new venue on Santa Fe Drive and will be a one-day show this year.
The exhibition will run from 1 p.m. to midnight on Saturday at the Capsule Art Event Center, 560 Santa Fe Drive, to highlight the chopper-motorcycle lifestyle and its influence on popular art and culture.
Featured will be paintings, drawings, prints and other works by local and nationally known artists as well as a dazzling array of custom chopper motorcycles. Hot rods will be added to the mix this year, said Hells Angels spokesman Jeff Heley.
The theme is a blend of the art of the rock ‘n’ roll, motorcycle and tattoo worlds that is expected to draw “people who don’t normally go to art shows and who usually wear shorts and T-shirts,” Heley said.
Among the artists participating is Alan Forbes, the creator of the poster for this year’s show, which features a stylized snake entwined in a skull flanked by bat wings and a pair of engine pistons. Also on display will be original art work by the legendary Von Dutch, whose trademark designs became a part of the custom motorcycle and hot-rod scene beginning in the 1950s.
Von Dutch was the nom de guerre of Kenny Howard, the son of a Southern California sign painter who popularized a distinctive style of pinstriping and airbrush painting that continues to influence custom car and motorcycle design. Von Dutch’s hallmark was a winged eyeball, an ancient symbol with roots in Macedonia and Egypt.
Von Dutch and the late Ed “Big Daddy” Roth were among the trendsetting giants of the metal-flake, candy-apple “Kustom Kulture” that evolved and flourished on the West Coast in the ’50s and ’60s.
Current practitioners of pinstriping and airbrush painting will demonstrate their artistry during the show.
The new venue’s large, open, one-floor space will allow the addition of hot rods to the mix, Heley said. (No surprise that lots of bikers also are hot-rod and custom-car buffs.)
All the bikes in the 2007 show were locally built and will be shown for the first time.
Proceeds from a silent art auction will go toward art programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs. Last year, the Hells Angels show raised $2,200 for the youth clubs.
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5th annual Chopper’s Art Show An exhibit of
custom motorcycles, cars, paintings, drawings, prints; Capsule Art Event Center,
560 Santa Fe Drive 1 p.m.-
midnight Saturday $10
