Taliah Lempert – Bicycle Painter

photos by harry zernike
Taliah Lempert’s studio is a shared third-floor loft at the foot of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg Bridge. The dimly lit space is filled with bicycles, furniture, a pinball machine, cats, and a kitchen with a wide and welcoming wooden table and chairs. It feels like a place where one could happily hole up and muse, contemplate, and create for days and weeks at a time. Drawings, paintings, and prints line the walls, light streams in through dusty windows, and cardboard portfolios brimming with artwork are piled haphazardly on wooden shelves. Under the lights in her studio is the bike which Andy Hampsten rode to victory on the 20th stage of the Giro d’Italia in 1988.
But historic racers are not the only subjects for the bicycle painter. She has painted hundreds of bikes of all shapes and sizes – BMX, cruisers, ten-speeds – making many sketches and paintings of each. Taliah Lempert emerges smiling from her inner sanctum; she is receptive, patient, and thoughtful in her answers to questions about her life and work.

When did you start painting bicycles?

“I started painting bikes about 12 years ago when I started riding a bike and commuting. To get a bike after riding the subway for years – being able to see the whole city and go everywhere – it was astonishing. My bike was so awesome. It was all I talked about for a long time.
“I like to paint something that’s important to somebody. I’ve painted a lot of bikes that people are retiring after 20 years of being a commuter, which is pretty cool. When I’m painting a bike I examine it very closely. I’m paying it respect. I’ve had Andy’s bike in there and I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at it.”

Are you involved in the art world in terms of galleries and what do you think of the “bike art scene”?

“I’m a professional painter; I studied it in school and I’ve been doing it for over 20 years. But I’m not represented by a gallery. Art is like writing. You’re using a different language to tell a story. I’m probably more of a paint snob than I am a bike snob. I like bike art and all the shows that have sprung up. I’ve been in a lot of shows of bike art, and I’m part of it.”

What do you hope to offer people with your work?

“A good painting. I don’t really feel that art has to change the world. Art can sometimes take a moment and say, ‘This is beautiful.’”

I saw the Greg Curnoe poster. Is he an influence?

“I don’t know when I first saw his work and I don’t even know if it was before I was painting bicycles, but I think his work is awesome and I wish he was still alive. I got that print when I painted a Mariposa for Michael Barry (junior, son of the now-retired bike builder Michael Barry). It was the cutest little thing ever.”
Taliah begins a search through her studio for the paintings, and after pulling open several portfolios, finally uncovers the ones she is looking for. “This bike was really special because of the whole father/son thing. This was a bike that he built for Michael when he was six years old, and it was a replica of the shop team that they sponsored and it was just adorable. Michael said that he used to follow the racers around and copy their moves. I love these! Nobody else does. It’s very sad. But, whatever. Yeah, I love these!”

Asked about her influences, Taliah cites Lucien Freud, Polly Applebaum, Andy Warhol, Willem deKooning, Jackson Pollack, and Robert Motherwell.

“I’ve been thinking about my painting a lot and I think the way that I paint is really affected by abstract expressionism. I’m interested in the mark and the thought, and I like the drips and the accidents, like these drips. And that red spot [points to tiny red dot on lower left corner] makes me extremely happy. I think that’s the best part of the painting.”

Taliah Lempert documents the progress of her paintings on a daily basis. To see her work visit www.bicyclepaintings.com

About the Author

Amy Walker is the publisher of MOMENTUM. She likes riding her bike better than sitting at the computer. [more...]