B.I.K.E.S.
Our story spills from a cauldron of dirt, neon and youthful freedom – set amid the back lots and man-made hills of the suburbs in Southern California. It’s the 1970’s. And it’s the rise of dirt-bike culture. With torn jeans, beat-up Converse chucks and two hands firmly gripping an impossible yet equally heroic stunt, thousands of kids would furiously pedal a new sport’s future.
Initially starting out with customized Schwinn wheelie bikes, patched together from parts found on the ramshackle dusty lots and purpose carved tracks, BMX (as it became known) quickly exploded into a phenomenon. Much like its skateboarding sibling was birthed in empty swimming pools, BMX was a no-holds-barred way of life with no rules (other than the unspoken law of getting back up, wiping the blood off and trying again).
By the middle of the thunderous 70’s (and rolling into the early 1980’s), BMX achieved critical mass. Never one to miss capitalizing on a popular trend, manufacturers stepped up their game, creating innovative, highly iconic bicycles, purpose-designed for the adrenaline-fueled sport.
By documenting ultra-vivid key bike models and custom-builds of the BMX world, the B.I.K.E.S. project is a high-resolution celebration of the formidable innovation, design and creativity of this era. Featuring candy colored chrome, acid dye hues and extreme use of rainbow-tinted complexion and style, the signature neon shades of this era are indelibly etched in these unforgettable decades. The blunt takeaway: a story that celebrates this generation’s chroma-stained youth - unmatched in luminosity, bold presence and the lost innocence from a time when feats of courage were recounted in dents, scars and stories – not Instagram posts and valueless up-votes.
/Fine Art Pigment Print on Archival Smooth Pearl Paper
/Sizes and Editions Upon Request