 |
Pricing and Purchasing:
All ArtBiker's photographs are available for you to own. You may purchase images at galleries or exhibitions around the country. If the image you are looking for is not readily available in your area, or you are traveling and unable to transport the artwork yourself, ArtBiker would be more than happy to send the image to the address of your choosing. You can find a very large assortment of other ArtBiker Products at our on-line store! Prices do not include shipping/handling or sales tax (where applicable). Email us if you would like to barter or trade for goods and services!
Images are generally available as follows:
Poster Prints are available in the on-line store (as well as a ton of other goodies)
11x11 and 11x14 inch archival giclee prints, signed $99
16x16 and 16x20 inch archival giclee prints, signed and numbered (limited edition of 100) $299
20x30 and 24x24 inch archival giclee prints, signed and numbered (limited edition of 75) $499
32x32 inch archival giclee prints signed and numbered (limited edition of 50) $699
44x44 inch archival giclee prints signed and numbered (limited edition of 25) $1099
Please contact ArtBiker for current availability and purchase now.
Check out the on-line store for the most affordable and largest selection of quality biker art available.
Having Your Bike Photographed:
Please note that this section has changed. Polaroid has discontinued the SX-70 film that Matthew used to create his images. This has forced him to switch to digital media.
What if you want an image of your bike in the photographic style of ArtBiker? All you do is call or send an e-mail to make an appointment (either in the greater Houston area or at an event ArtBiker is attending). Your bike will be photographed on the location of your choosing. For a flat fee of $150, ArtBiker will spend about a half hour shooting your bike. You will be given time to review the images (either on-line or with photocopies) and can choose any one image to be printed 11x11 or 11 x 14 inches as an archival Giclee print. ArtBiker will sign the print for you. If you would like additional prints, you may purchase them at the regular purchasing price listed above. For a greater selection of images, additional shots can be made of your bike at the time of the photo shoot for a flat fee of $60 per hour (one hour minimum). Sound good? Contact ArtBiker now to set up an appointment. This makes a FANTASTIC gift and certificates are available in any denomination.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Who or What is ArtBiker?
A. Officially, ArtBiker is Matthew Linton. If you were to write to ArtBiker, he would be the one to answer. However, the website www.ArtBiker.com, is a collaboration. The site showcases Matthew's Roadside America and For Love of the Machine series as well as the collaborative efforts of Matthew and his wife, Dayna, on the American Biker Series.
Q. Are those really Polaroids??
A. Yes, Matthew Linton's motorcycle and Roadside America images are always Polaroids. He shoots with both a SX-70 camera built in 1973 and a standard 600 series camera. He has become known in art circles for what he is able to accomplish with the medium and is showcased on Polaroid's corporate website. The collaborative work between Dayna and Matt in the American Bikers series is generally shot with a high-end digital camera.
Q. How long have you two been into motorcycles and motorcycle culture?
A. Matthew and Dayna Linton have been involved with motorcycle culture for most of their lives. Matthew had his first moment piloting two wheels at age five and has attended bike rallies and events since 1988. Dayna grew up to the sounds of her father’s Harley and has been riding her own motorcycle since 2002. They have traveled across the United States to attend major rallies and photograph bikers and their bikes.
Q. You attend a lot of events. Do you ride, trailer, drive, fly, walk?
A. Matthew and Dayna have never trailered to an event. They have always ridden their bikes (or gone two up before Dayna had her own ride). If Matt and Dayna were in a car, all they would do is bitch about how they wished they were on bikes... so to avoid the problem they just leave the car at home. The Linton's don't own a trailer.
Q. You have traveled quite a bit to create your artworks. What states are left that you have not ridden through?
A. Hawaii.
Q. What was the first rally you attended?
A. Matthew attended what was to become Arizona Bike Week back when it was just a weekend put on by Chosa's HD in Scottsdale. This was in the late 80's. His first experience at what he now considers a "real" rally was the All Harley Memorial Day Blowout in Gulfport, Mississippi. He attended this rally in 1993. It was the kind of place where Hondas were burned in a field and wet t-shirt contests turned into... well... pretty much what they still turn into. Dayna's first rally was the Republic of Texas (ROT) Rally in Austin 2003. She was on the back of Matt's bike, but by the next year she rode her own bike to that same rally. In 2005 she rode to Daytona Bike Week.
Q. What Does "Art World 1%er" Mean?
A. In order to understand the use of the"1%er" on the ArtBiker website, one must first understand where this term originated in the motorcycle world. For those that may not know, this term was first used by the AMA (American Motorcycle Association) when they attempted promote the idea that 99% of bikers were good, law abiding citizens. In their eyes, 1% of bikers were responsible for giving the sport of motorcycling a bad rap. Those individuals and club members who associated themselves with the 1% the AMA chose to segregate decided to wear the patch and name as a badge of honor. In the art world, there is a group of artists who are always on the cutting edge, the avant-garde of style and thought. They play by their own rules and hold themselves to a different standard. Sometimes they upset the rest of the art community with their actions, but they never stray from their vision to be accepted by anyone. They are not unlike the 1%er bikers who have embraced their position in the motorcycle world as named by the AMA. These bikers are true to themselves and their brothers, living life to a higher set of personal standards that, occasionally, fall outside the mores of society. ArtBiker stands up for what he believes in and creates work without boundaries. He invests himself fully in his actions and fully immerses himself in the cultures he chooses to investigate. In the motorcycle world, he holds utmost respect for all three patch clubs and members. In the art world, he stands at the top of his chosen profession and demands the respect of his peers. ArtBiker, art world 1%er.
Q. Tell me more about the project American Bikers: views from the sissybar.
A. This collaborative effort results in exhibitions across the country, providing an interesting look at the sub-culture of the American Biker. Society has changed its views of the biker as the demographic has switched away from the outlaw persona as portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Wild One or Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in Easy Rider. Today, men and women, from working class to professionals, regularly mix with “1%” outlaw motorcycle gangs at biker bars as well as local and national events. As this demographic has changed, the fabric of the sub-culture has changed. A document created at this pivotal time may help us to understand this point in the evolution of biker culture. The American Biker and Views from the Sissy Bar series officially began in 2003 and continues today.
Q. Tell me more about For Love of the Machine.
A. The devil is in the details. The details are the hard parts, the expressive parts: fitting as we merge onto a new age of motorcycle fabrication. In the first age of choppers, parts were not fabricated and mass distributed. Rather, parts came off and that was pretty much the end of it. Lighter and faster machines were the result. Later in chopper evolution, companies like Paughco and Jammer began to market frames, ape hangers, extended forks, and other parts to help the homebuilder create the bike of his or her dreams. More recently, motor companies themselves, both American and Import, have published catalogs of parts that can be used to customize and personalize a rider’s steed. This market has exploded on the scene. The trend in the late 90’s was to bolt on each and every shiny part that caught a biker’s eye. It has been said that the purchase of the motorcycle itself was really just a down payment on the accessories that would be added in the coming months. It seems that in the past few years, riders become disillusioned with the parts from the catalogs. Thousands could be invested and their bike would still be lost in a sea of chrome. Bikes were personalized, but not really individualized. Welcome to present day where custom bike builders dream up parts and designs for the discriminating, albeit wealthy, set of bikers, and the backyard builder has begun to take his foothold on the scene. Pieces once picked out of copious catalogs are hand crafted out of spare parts and or whatever can be had for cheap. Suspension systems and forks are both created out of vintage car parts and items from the junkyard. Collectors’ items are butchered and bastardized to fit a new purpose on a new machine.
This photographic series focuses on the details that surround the mystique of the American Motorcycle. Facets of the machines that might go unseen by the general public are what signify to others important messages about the owner and/or builder of a particular machine. With the world of motorcycling currently being turned upside down by television shows that showcase builders as fabrication gods, the trend of backyard builders has turned in opposition of what the market and “The Factory” deem socially acceptable and trend worthy. Fascinated by the fabrication process, the retaliation of homebuilders, and customizations by the enthusiast, Matthew Linton documents the machines and allows us views and details presently unrepresented by mainstream media.
Matthew Linton has been photographing motorcycles and biker culture since 2003. He works almost exclusively with a Polaroid SX-70 camera and film. Original Polaroids are then subjected to an arduous process of scanning and “cleaning” to prepare for the Giclee print process. Linton’s Polaroid Giclee prints are not uncommonly seen printed 44x44 images with amazing clarity and detail.
Q. Tell me the artist statement for the Roadside America project.
A. Travel, memory, memorabilia, and souvenir are ideas that fine artist, Matthew Linton, finds intriguing. To be the traveler, the tourist, the modern day nomadic wanderer is to continuously happen upon amazing and curious things. Objects created to advertise, to inform, for sale, or for spectacle line the highways and byways of America. Photography and the souvenir allow us to claim these moments for later recollection as well as to share the discoveries with others while allowing for memorabilia as proof of the experience.
These images were all created while Linton traveled across the continental United States. The original Polaroids were used to create a souvenir that could be easily sent through the mail as a unique post card. Original post card memorabilia were scanned and photographed to be printed at a later date (thereby preserving the original look of the object/experience). The marks made upon the Polaroid as it traveled through the mail system speak to the affects of physical travel as well as the psychological marks that travels and experiences leave upon our lives. Those Polaroids in the artist’s possession and others on loan from recipients are on exhibit alongside the un-mailed copies.
Video and sound works exemplify the experience allowing the viewer to pass through a psychological space of travel while hearing stories from the road and/or sound bytes from actual destination and stopping points.
Q. Tell me more about the Giclee process and what limited edition prints actually are.
A. Giclee: Pronounced zhe-clay', it is the French word for 'squirt'. The giclee printing process involves spraying microscopic size dots of ink onto fine-art paper. The ink is absorbed by the paper rendering a print that has smooth tonal transitions and stunning realism. The latest Giclee technology is used in ArtBiker's limited edition prints.
Limited Edition Prints: Each print is numbered, captioned and signed. If matted, it is also signed on the window mat. Each print is one of only a small number of archival prints that will ever be made of the image ("the edition"). Limited edition prints differ from standard prints because they are individually numbered (i.e. 1/50, 2/50, 3/50…), they are larger, and they are printed on the most archival photographic materials available. Only limited edition prints are displayed in ArtBiker's exhibitions in galleries and museums. The price of a limited edition print is based solely on the size of the print and how many prints are in the addition. Unlike some artists, as prints in each edition sell, the price of the remaining prints stays the same. We ship the lowest edition number print available when the order is received. Shipping and handling is approximately $15 using Federal Express Ground and archival museum matting is available on request.
Q. What about "Stock Photography?"
A. Yes, ArtBiker's images are available for use as stock photography. Interested parties should contact ArtBiker directly. There are hundreds of images that are of extremely high quality, but do not make the cut for the "fine art" audience in which this particular site is designed. Documentary and photojournalistic images are readily available. ArtBiker currently has images from Daytona Bike Week, Laconia, Myrtle Beach Bike Week, The Horse Smoke Out, Sturgis, The Republic of Texas Rally (ROT Rally), The Lone Star Motorcycle Rally (The Galveston Rally), The Steel Pony Express in New Orleans, and many more.
Contact:
Matthew and Dayna Linton will be happy to answer any questions you might have about either of their work. They are continually seeking exhibition opportunities at motorcycle events around the country and world. The Lintons also welcome requests to guest lecture, give workshops, curate, and jury exhibitions. Please direct all purchase or exhibition requests, as well as general inquiries, directly to the artists.
Matthew and Dayna Linton
2700 Bay Area Blvd.
Box 233
Houston, TX 77058-1098
281.283.3379
artbiker@artbiker.com
You may also wish to view Matthew Linton's Fine Art website at: www.lintonarts.com
If you are interested in a short vita , please find it here. This document was last updated 10/1/07
