Taliah's Fixed Gear, A Business Painting Bikes

To a certain subsect of its residence, Taliah Lempert's bicycle paintings and prints are as close to a symbol of Brooklyn as there is. Bold, handcrafted, and diverse, with a slightly imperfect charm, her bicycle portraits are as unique as their riders and ubiquitous as their subjects careening along bike paths and through intersections across the borough.

A regular fixture at Brooklyn's flea markets and arts festivals, Taliah has been exclusively painting bicycles since she bought her first white fold-up in 1995. She quickly became a die-hard cycling commuter, drawn to both their daring and their beauty. It's easy to see that Taliah is living out her love affair with bikes (or is it an obesession?) though her art:

I'm interested in looking just at the bike.
Like in old pictures, where saints are painted on a gilded surface.
Or Pop art, with the subject not in a traditional space but on a flat ground.
An everyday object with paramount importance.

What is most impressive is her determination and success at making her passion her business, as well. Whether it's to obtain great art, or to support a working artist, take a look at her online gallery, or keep an eye out wherever Brooklyn bike-riding painter-entrepreneurs can be found.

image: Ken's Bike - Bars. Oil on panel.
top video: Stopmotion film of Taliah Lempert  making a bike print.
bottom video: Bicycle Artist at Brooklyn Flea Market by flyingflashlight