Denver Art Museum’s Newest Exhibit Explores Transportation and Identity

Thanks to movies, the media, and plain ignorance, lowriders have been cast as the exclusive conveyance of drug dealers and gang members. That depiction couldn’t be further from the truth, says Carlos Frésquez, a local artist who has been creating vibrant paintings, prints, and murals inspired by the Mile High City for more than 40 years. Now he’ll help shatter the stereotype. Beginning July 9, the Denver Art Museum’s (DAM) Desert Rider: Dreaming in Motion exhibition will use the work of Latino and Indigenous artists to explore how vehicles have shaped Southwestern identity. Although the show originated at the Phoenix Art Museum, DAM curator Victoria Lyall tailored Denver’s version to the city by adding works—including Frésquez’s 1985 mixed media collage, “Cool Couple; Series #10” (pictured above)—from seven Colorado artists. “To me,” Frésquez says, “it represents the urban nature of Chicano culture.” Desert Rider doesn’t stick to a single mode of transportation, but lowriders make up most of the traffic in the exhibit, which kicks off with a car show and free admission on opening day and runs through September 24. “The lowrider is representative of our culture, not lowlifes,” Frésquez says. “I hope people see that.”