Object Details
- Artist
- Miguel Luciano, born San Juan, Puerto Rico 1972
- Gallery Label
- Two cherry-red Schwinn bicycles, decked out with horns and American and Puerto Rican flags, are joined to form one three-wheeled, double-headed creature.
- The word pa'lante, Spanish slang meaning "forward," glows above. The term became famous as the name of a civil rights newspaper in Puerto Rico in the 1960s. In following years, it has evoked Puerto Rican independence and statehood and become a mindset of strength and resilience in the face of hurricanes and other hardships.
- Paired with a bicycle that can go in two directions at once--and so goes nowhere--the word also takes on an ironic meaning. Luciano's sculpture brims with Puerto Rican pride while acknowledging the difficulties that hinder the island's forward motion.
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Marianna and Juan A. Sabater
- Copyright
- © 2017, Miguel Luciano. photo: Jason Wyche
- 2017
- Object number
- 2020.25.2
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Installation Art
- Medium
- neon
- Dimensions
- overall: 120 × 24 in. (304.8 × 61 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, 3rd Floor, East Wing
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Object\letter
- Record ID
- saam_2020.25.2
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7db68276b-5831-43ba-ad7a-1d178ccab9bd
