bicyclewire
:\INTERVIEW\

it's about the bike people

Name: Taliah Lempert
Occupation: Artist; proprietor of www.bicyclepaintings.com
Age: 33
Currently lives in: Brooklyn, NY
Rides: track = Atala; cruiser = Spaceliner; road = Mystery pink steel from Germany; many, many, many more

Williamsburg is only one stop from Manhattan on the L train, but you know you've left the island of skyscrapers behind as soon as you emerge from the subway onto Bedford Avenue. The buildings out here in the flatlands of Brooklyn are squat, like a frontier town. The other thing that's hard to miss are all the bicycles, scattered across the streetscape like truants from a J Crew photo shoot. A painter of tropical fish might want to live on a coral reef somewhere in the South Seas. You probably couldn't do much better than call Williamsburg home if you are a painter of bicycles looking for inspiration.

There are two chained to the iron railing guarding the subway stairwell and a dozen more clustered on a rack 10 feet from the top of the steps. Walking south on Bedford toward Broadway it seems like every pole, every bit of fence has a bicycle in its clutches. A blue Triumph three-speed hitched to a No Parking post has a carefully laminated sign hanging from the top tube:

"2 NEW TUBES NEW BACK TIRE VERY NICE IN GENERAL. $35 HELL, YES CHEAP. YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT ALL THE KIDS HAVE EM NOWADAYS. CALL JOHN."

Joined to their immovable objects the well-used bikes seem to be waiting patiently for their latest owners to return and mount the saddle and ride off. (The new owners for the most part being an assortment of artists and yuhs.)

These are not the sprayed-black mountain bikes used to hustle Chinese take-out around the Upper West Side or the sleek track machines favored by seasoned midtown messengers. The bicycles of Williamsburg are mostly three-speeds and coaster brake cruisers, Raleighs, Columbias and Schwinns, with fenders and chain guards and rubber pedals and racks, perfect for a trip to the local bistro or an errand across town.

Taliah Lempert's building is down from a corner lot infested with tree-size weeds and just up from the open expanse of the river and its view of Manhattan. The World Trade Center sits like a postcard at the end of her block. Directly behind her building the Williamsburg Bridge bicycle path, enclosed in raspberry-pink fencing, angles up toward the first trestle like some sort of giant BMX launching chute.

A knock on the battered steel door of Lempert's third floor loft sets off an impressive round of barking from her Akita. A dozen or so bicycles lean against the graffiti-covered brick wall at the back. She shares the 6,000-square-foot living and working space with six others. Before we look at some of her paintings, Taliah finishes taping the handlebars on her new track bike. She's an avid racer at the world-famous Kissena Velodrome in Queens. She rides out to the track with her buddies for the Wednesday night races.

bicyclewire: Are you obsessed with bicycles?
Taliah Lempert: I think it's important to paint what you know, what you're doing, what you're interested in. When I went to college my father said it's not what you learn, it's learning how to learn. With painting, I feel if you paint what you know, other stuff comes through it. And I really like bikes, I think they're really beautiful.

Are you worried about becoming The Bicycle Painter?
A lot of people call me That Bicycle Painter or The Girl Who Paints Bicycles. I don't mind. I've been painting bikes for about five or six years. I don't know if I'll be doing it forever. Right now I really enjoy it. They're wonderful to paint.

How come you don't have people on your bicycles?
I think the bicycle itself is pretty figurative. There's a lot of stuff with the angles that make me think about the figure, like the whole front of the bike.

I notice none of the bicycles in your paintings is equipped with STI.
I like older bikes. I like the newer stuff too, but, people have to leave the bike in the studio for a while and—what I'm trying to say is I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I thought maybe it was a philosophical thing.
Not really.

If someone brought in their brand spanking new frame and wanted a record of it before it got beat?
If they paid me go to town, sure! I don't dislike newer bikes, but I do go for older bikes. There's some new frames that intrigue me, like some of the suspension stuff. I love bikes that people love. I've always been intrigued with painting things that people like. You know, like people's guitars, musical instruments. The idea that this is an object that somebody loves. For me, when I see my bikes, I think of getting on and getting out, riding around and having a great time.

Your boyfriend has a bike shop. Is that a good source for you?
It is, I like the shop bikes, those are fun to paint. There's a lot of super interesting stuff that goes through there. But I also like to paint bikes that belong to people. It's a special treat to paint friend's bikes.

Is the Internet working for you?
It's good. It's amazing but it is a lot of work. I spend a lot of time promoting the web site…it's interesting and it's getting easier... This is a JC Higgins chopper…dual shifter...Yeah, isn't that hot? This thing is difficult to ride but it makes a nice picture. It's great, but it's not like people are just lining up to buy your work. I have a commission for next month, the bike is being shipped here from California.

Where did you get this Spaceliner?
A comic book shop in Detroit years ago. I was working on a job there. I take my paintings to the post office, I pick up art supplies on it. Sweet. That's a Lady Spaceliner Super Deluxe right behind it, with the tank and the color-coordinated pedals. They're beautiful bikes but they aren't the best ride in the world compared to a Rollfast or a Schwinn.

How many bikes?
I probably own about 11. That sounds low. Are you counting your half of all these tandems?

And that Rollfast is from what year?
The Rollfast is early 50s, I think. It's a really good bike. I can actually outroll David's spaceframe Moulton on it.

You guys do tests like that?
[laughing] Yes.

www.bicyclepaintings.com

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