John Natsoulas Gallery

Opening Reception: Sunday, February 15, 1-3 p.m.

The John Natsoulas Center of the Arts will be presenting the Art of the Bicycle exhibition, reception and after party for the Amgen Tour of California Road Race. Race presenter AEG announced through a series of press conferences throughout the state that this year's race has been expanded. The 2009 route includes stops in 16 host cities over the course of nine days, from February 14-22. Already considered cycling's most important and successful road race in the United States, the event's fourth running will be expanded to cover more than 800 miles. Traveling almost the entire length of California, the race begins in the state's capital, Sacramento, with the official start in Davis, California. The event ends in San Diego County, with a finish in Escondido on February 22.

Davis, known as “the most bike-friendly town in California,” will host a world-class exhibition of bicycle themed art at the John Natsoulas Gallery and Center for the Arts. The Amgen Tour of California will begin on February 15th at noon in Davis, while the after-party and reception will be held at the Gallery from 1 to 3 o'clock, celebrating the bicycle as a vehicle of self-expression. Gallery hours on Feb 15 will be 10 to 6 p.m.

Over 200 years ago the earliest proto-types of the bicycle relied heavily on the woodworking skills of fine craftsmen, allowing for the production of highly personalized, sculptural frames. As early as 1816, German Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerburn exhibited his bicycles in Paris, moving them from the street into the museum and solidifying the bicycle as a prominent image within the artistic community. Illustrations and prints of bicycles circulated throughout the 1900s and the public's fascination with the bicycle continued to grow, as there were developments in art and new technology. From the 1817 introduction of the hobbyhorse to the current vogue of road and fixed gear applications, the bicycle continues to capture the public's imagination.

The lasting relationship between art and the bicycle lies in the machine's flawless marriage of form and function. There is a long tradition of incorporating the bicycle in art. Picasso's 1942 bulls head assemblage and Deborah Butterfield's horse sculpture, constructed with repurposed bike parts, denote the bicycle's various pieces as worthwhile aesthetic fragments. One of Marcel Duchamp's first readymades consisted of a bicycle wheel perched upon a stool. From the modernist understanding of the bicycle as a symbol for the merging man and machine, to more pastoral, conventional interpretations, the figural possibilities of the bicycle provide a testament to modern expertise, as well as offering sinuous curves for the eyes of painters and sculptors alike. Over 20 internationally know artists will be participating.