CART Dept Presents the World Premiere of Shepard Fairey’s Art Car

September 24-27/ 16 Morton Street New York, NY 10014

CART Department is pleased to present the world premiere of Shepard Fairey’s Untitled (Art Car) at 16 Morton Street in New York City. This limited-run exhibition is the debut of Fairey’s intervention on a 1937 Packard Touring Sedan featuring his signature bold graphic iconography and portraits of distinguished hip-hop and punk musicians, along with new prints inspired by the car and dozens of original artworks.

On view from September 24 through September 27, the exhibition debuts Fairey’s intervention on a 1937 Packard Touring Sedan, transforming the historic automobile through his unmistakable graphic language and a cast of cultural figures drawn from hip-hop and punk. The car will be presented alongside new prints inspired by the project, dozens of original artworks and a specially curated playlist by Fairey celebrating the musicians represented across the work.
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Rendered in intricate metallic gold patterns, the Packard uses the visual language of luxury to examine the systems surrounding wealth, power and consumption. One side of the vehicle leans into ideas of opulence through references to hip-hop figures including Slick Rick, Chuck D of Public Enemy and The Notorious B.I.G. The opposite side turns toward punk’s anti-establishment history, drawing from Joe Strummer of The Clash, Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys and Jamie Reid’s work with the Sex Pistols. The result is a moving canvas built around opposing perspectives on capitalism. Fairey takes an object historically associated with status and excess and turns it into a platform for voices that have both celebrated and challenged the systems surrounding them.
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The project continues CART Department’s exploration of the automobile as an artistic and social artifact. While artists including John Chamberlain and César incorporated automotive materials into sculpture as early as the mid-20th century, generations of artists have since pushed beyond the automobile as raw material, treating the vehicle itself as a legitimate medium for expression.Fairey’s Untitled (Art Car) sits within that lineage while bringing the conversation firmly into the present, connecting street art, music, graphic design and automotive culture through a single object.
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Throughout the exhibition, CART Department will host a series of talks and gatherings exploring the histories of art, punk and hip-hop that inform the project.

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