Dustin Shuler Targets Transportation
November 6 - December 17, 2004
Curators | Begovich Gallery Director, Mike McGee
About the Exhibition
Through a series of monumental public art projects and commissions, California artist Dustin Shuler has lifted the auto out of its ordinary context to question its priority and importance in our daily lives. The exhibition, Dustin Shuler Targets Transportation, documents this body of work through drawings, photographs, models and sculptures.
Shuler is best known for skewering a 1959 Cadillac with a two ton, twenty-foot nail at California State University, Dominguez Hills (“Death of an Era,” 1980). He went on to "skinning" cars, treating the sheet metal like animal hides and hanging them on walls as pelts. “California Carwash,” part of the Cal State Fullerton outdoor sculpture collection, consists of a one-quarter scale Volkswagen bug strung between two steel cutout palm trees.
Dustin Shuler ( 1948-2010) was born in Pittsburgh, PA. From 1977 until his death, he exhibited frequently and had numerous solo exhibitions. Shuler's public projects and commissions include: “Albatross V” at the Santa Barbara Airport; Pinned: “Aircraft As Butterfly” at the American Hotel, Los Angeles; “Death of an Era,” California State University, Dominguez Hills and the infamous “Spindle” at Cermak Plaza, Berwyn, Illinois. His work was reviewed and featured in both national and international publications: Sculpture Magazine, National Geographic Magazine, Stern Magazine, LA Reader, Harper's Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Artweek, Los Angeles Times, and People Magazine.
