Published by Lyn on 9 May 2011
Marco Vicini; 73x60cm by Alan Kinsey
Thanks to the blogosphere and Twitter, I've stumbled across a few random links to cycling and art lately.
Alan Kinsey started it off; he emailed to say hi and to wish me luck with the site. He also invited me to join The France Forum's cycling group, which has proven to be an informative and entertaining way to pretend to be working when I'm not. Being a bit nosey, I checked out his Bikes and Paint blog and discovered he was an artist of some note, with his work lately allowing him to indulge in his love of cycling.
He's based near Montpellier, where he rides and paints. I sent him a Q&A to find out more about his cycling art.
Sprint; 60x60cm by Alan Kinsey
How did you get into cycling?
My dad. He bought me a Mercian when I was about 14 and I was off! He rode bikes all his life – raced track a bit when he was young – I've still got one of his frames, a Rory O'Brien, hanging on the wall in my studio.
Where do you enjoy riding?
My region (Hérault in Languedoc-Roussillon). I've got loads of nice rides with plenty of climbing – I'll be writing about them on my blog from time to time. I did the Ventoux for my 60th birthday - it's about a two-and-half-hour drive from my place.
How often do you get out on the bike?
Average about twice a week. I do roughly 4000km a year – not much, I know, but then I'm not retired.
Sprint#3; 40x40cm by Alan Kinsey
Does cycling inspire your art?
Cycling is a passion for me. It's more natural to transform something you're passionate about into art than something you're not. My other passion is music and that finds its way into my work too. Cycling doesn't inspire my non-cycling art at all, but I've sometimes been stuck with my work, gone out on the bike thinking and worrying about it, then got back home and successfully overcome the problem.
How would you describe your cycling paintings?
In the retro ones it's the romantic vision of a rider alone high in the mountains that I'd like to capture. The modern Grand Tours are so mediatised, so many people go to watch and there's this massive following caravan of vehicles, but pre-1950s, a rider on a mountain break was often completely on his own except for one following car. In my modern paintings, I'm trying to get the speed, colour and spectacle across. But I'll be doing some gentler non-racing ones of ordinary bikes too.
Find out more about Alan's work on his website and in his blog. His paintings start at €200 for the 40x40cm works.
Other art/cycling links I've been noseying about...
I'm not sure how I found Taliah Lempert's bicyclepaintings.com, but it's been going since 1999, so I'm using time as an excuse for my bad memory. Lempert is a New York-based artist whose work has centred on the bike for more than a decade with exhibitions, books and cover art all related to bikes. I love her gallery of her own bikes.
Richard Lee's Cycling Art blog has been a more recent discovery, thanks to his Tweets. Richard seems to be something of a bike nut (in the nicest possible way), and his blog is an eclectic mix of art and cycling (I especially like his commentary on historic cycling events, and his use of old photos and YouTube clips). Richard is based in Vancouver and, along with Kiwi Guy Wilson-Roberts, he also has a Bikes, Books & Beers podcast; there's also a blog.
