Hi ‘n’ Lo, 2008. Mixed Mechanical Media. Dimensions variable.

Rubén Ortiz-Torres

Many of his most widely-exhibited works deal with low-rider car culture, in which he has tricked unconventional machinery into polished performance vehicles, often pushing the now predictable components of the low-rider to absurd extremes. The low-riders, art objects in and of themselves, are also integral to the staging of mechanical ballets, wherein operators show off the extraordinary tricks that these machines can perform.

For his residency with FWM, Ortiz-Torres created Hi’n’Lo, a hydraulic scissor lift entirely retrofitted and detailed with low-rider accessories. The exhibition will feature a video performance of Hi’n’Lo performing tricks, as well as collages that Ortiz-Torres produced while working through concepts for the design of lift.

Bio

Born 1964. Lives and works in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Rubén Ortiz-Torres works in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, and film. He was born and lived in Mexico City, before moving to the United States. His work is heavily steeped in the culture of Southern California, particularly Los Angeles where he lives and San Diego where he serves as faculty at the University of California, San Diego.