Irvine, Calif., July 30, 2009 – Actor John Hensley and Linkin Park’s Joe Hahn
recently hosted the opening of “Celeritas,” an art exhibition at SURU Gallery in
Hollywood. The exhibition, which runs through August 16, was conceived to bring
both fine and street art to the public through motorcycle culture and to raise
money for Riders for Health, an international aid organization. Hensley and Hahn
engaged a group of renowned artists to transform 13 motorcycle helmets,
motorcycle leathers, and a Suzuki Hayabusa sport bike into a unique body of
work.
"It was really special for Joe and I to see a concept come to reality, and to see so
many people from different walks in the same room, on the same night, for
basically the same reason, was especially gratifying,” notes Hensley. “This show
would have absolutely not been possible without the creative contributions of all
involved, from the artists, from SURU, and from our sponsors. All in all it’s made
for a pretty cool experiment that we’re looking forward to doing again next year."
Representing the intersection of art, culture and motorcycling, Celeritas brings
together a well-known group of artists: Barry McGee, Joe Hahn, Mike Shinoda,
Mark Dean Veca, Audrey Kawasaki, Jim Lee, James Jean, Stash, Futura, Hot
Dog (for Jesse James), Jeff McMillan, Alex Pardee, Troy Lee, Usugrow, Estevan
Oriol, Nathan Cabrera, and Dr. Romanelli. These artists, whose canvases span
wood panels to couture to subway trains to museum installations, have chosen
elements from motorcycle racing culture as their medium for this exhibition.
The exhibition has raised over $65,000 for Riders for Health, www.riders.org, an
organization that provides motorcycles, and maintenance training to aid workers
in Africa who deliver medical attention to remote populations. Show sponsors
include Pirelli, Suzuki, Alpinestars, Oakley and Troy Lee Designs. Motorcycle
helmets were provided by Discover Today's Motorcycling, with support from
Shoei and Arai.
Although the artwork has been sold, all items will remain on display for the
duration of the exhibit, and related T-shirts and limited-edition prints by Estevan
Oriol will be on sale while supplies last. Celeritas is open to the public at SURU
(7662 Melrose Ave., LA, 90046) until August 16. High-res images of the artists
and artwork are available at www.rockmoto.com/community/celeritas.
Discover Today’s Motorcycling®, the communications service bureau of the
Motorcycle Industry Council, is a leading resource for information about twowheeling
for the media and general public. DTM is funded by the Americanbased
operations of Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki and is supported by more than
300 MIC member companies.
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