Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 449

SE VALLEY WEEKEND 14 THE AHWATUKEE REPUBLIC MIDWEEK EDITION, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008 Lowrider culture to be on display at MAC during exhibits, party A. i'ri tiii ii 'Lowriders and Tattoos' What: Events and exhibits centered on Chicano car culture. Where: Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St. Details: 480-644-6500, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday in the Piper Theater: "Lowriders and Tattoos: A Conversation With Mister Cartoon, Estevan Oriol and Jack Rudy." Oscar Garza, editor-in-chief of Tu Cm-dad magazine, joins top lowrider and tattoo artist Mister Cartoon, photographer Estevan Oriol and legendary tattoo artist Jack Rudy, known for pioneering the Black and Gray style of tattooing. Admission: $60 prime seating and catered post-reception with the artists, $30 general seating. 7-10 p.m. Friday: Mesa Contemporary Arts fall-exhbition-season premiere Be the first to view the new fall exhibits, enjoy music by the Los Angeles-based group Ollin, demonstrations in the art studios and performances in the four theaters. A lowrider car show showcases top lowriders from the Valley.

Admission: Free. The following exhibits are at Mesa Contemporary Arts; Admission: $3.50, free Thursdays. Friday-Jan. 11 in the Main Gallery: "Low and Slow. The Art of the Lowrider." Among the displays, Estevan Oriol's lowriding lifestyle photography, a 1979 Monte Carlo with a one-of-a-kind flake paint job fully customized by Mister Cartoon, and car-part "canvases" interpreted by top artists.

Other participants include Efrain "Bugs" Gonzalez, O.G. Abel, Danny and Mike Pikel as well as contemporary artists Sandow Birk, Vincent Valdez, Charles "Chaz" Bojorquez, and Ben Be-shaw. Friday-Dec. 7 in the South Gallery: "Beneath the Skin: Artwork Inspired by Tattoos" features national artists whose works are inspired by the art and culture of tattoos. Includes Shawn Barber's revealing portraits of tattoo artists and Sherri Lynn Wood's tattoo embroidered dolls, as well as works by Aaron Cain, Alix Lambert, Don Ed Hardy, Elizabeth McGrath and others.

Friday-Jan. 11 in the Project Room: "The Parlour." Valley graffiti-artist Noe Baez (aka Such) provides a backdrop for the history of tattooing and tattoos from other cultures. In association with "Night Out in Downtown Mesa," other local tattoo artists will be on-site demonstrating tattooing from October through December. Friday-Jan. 4 in the North Gallery: "Arizona Wheels Ink." Thirty Arizona artists create an exhibition of hubcaps, as well as lowrider- and tattoo-inspired pieces.

By Srianthi Perera The Republic azcentral.com If you see a bright-purple car, super-low to the ground, cruising slowly, remember not to panic. "There's not going to be a robbery; this guy just wants to drive his car," said photographer Estevan Oriol, who brings his lowrider lifestyle to Mesa Arts Center this week. The Chicano car culture, spawned on the boulevards of East Los Angeles, also has generated a form of art that's gaining acceptance in art galleries and museums worldwide. Events Together with fellow lowrider fans Mister Cartoon and Jack Rudy from Los Angeles, Oriol will explain the pinstrip- ing, muraling, car-customizing and tattooing that is part of their lifestyle at "Lowriders and Tattoos, A Conversation With Mister Cartoon, Estevan Oriol and Jack Rudy, Hosted by Oscar Garcia" on Thursday at the arts center. On Friday, Mesa Contemporary Arts holds a free party to open several exhibits on the theme, including "Low and Chicano car culture will be explored for two days in "Lowriders and Tattoos." Slow," that run through fall.

Guests get to hear HispanicIrish music by Los Angeles band Ollin, view demonstrations in the art studios and live performances in the theaters. A car show will feature 75 lowriders, hoppingdemos, tops and lowrider bicycles. Oriol Oriol has an archive of 200,000 photographs, out of which about 50,000 are on a lowriding theme. They have been used in more than a hundred magazines. Eighteen photos will show in Mesa.

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