In 1995, Pierogi gallery hosted the first Brooklyn Gravity Racers event called Four Wheels at Four Walls. Conceived by artists Mike Ballou and Gary Bachman, this crazy fun exhibition and event celebrated the gallery’s 10th anniversary and showcased hundreds of artist built pinewood derby cars of every conceivable style: half a BLT sandwich, war coffins wrapped with American flags, a Frank Lloyd Wright house on wheels. Their rolling activities however didn’t go by unnoticed.

Artists from all over the Southeast were invited to create spectacular racing machines from pinewood derby car kits available at local hobby shops and compete with their Northern neighbors. All submissions (200 from the NYC area and 100 from the Southeast) were displayed on shelves that lined the gallery’s walls and competed for three five hundred dollar cash awards—one in the speed category and two in the aesthetically-embellished category.

Although the entries offer their makers a chance to compete in a race, the real competition is between these unique small works and how artists have responded. Using the simplest of means—a block of wood and four wheels—as a starting point, many of the entrants stretched the medium in a variety of ways: a pinhole camera on wheels from the south and a closed circuit camera from the north; a Franz West tribute sculpture; a carved Tarheel figure reclining; even President Bush riding a bomb and a flag draped coffin. SECCA staff member Lyndon Bray conducted three car-making workshops with residents from the Enrichment Center, AIDS Care Services, and Amos Cottage.
 

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This exhibition conceived by David J Brown, reflected a statement from the artist Ron Snapp when Brown landed in NC, “You’re now in the land of NASCAR, its not an option, its a responsibility!”. Along with the 300 artist cars are Tom Ashcraft’s The World’s Fastest Stick, Dan Devine’s Inside Outside Nascar, and continuous episodes of the cartoon series Speed Racer. The exhibition took place at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art and ran from Jul - Oct, 2006.

 

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