HARLEY-DAVIDSON TEAMS WITH ROCK-RELATED ARTISTS FOR A UNIQUE EXHIBIT

Graphic artist Frank Kozik, who released important records by the likes of Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, and Unsane via his Man’s Ruin record label through the early 2000s, has also produced eye-catching artwork for some his favorite rock and metal bands for nearly three decades. Now a major motorcycle company has given him and nine other rock-centric artists, including Derek Hess, Tara McPherson, and Lindsey Kuhn, the opportunity to indulge a passion related to music by designing vanity gas tanks for the new Harley-Davidson Iron 883.

“It’s all part of the myth of American culture of the individualism and energy and freedom, so [rock and motorcycles] are tied together,” Kozik says. “Certainly the heyday for motorsports in the United States was the ’60s; that’s kind of when American rock music exploded as well.”

Frank Kozik

The finished tanks will make their debut at the second Art of Rebellion exhibit, which will be held at La. Venue in New York City on October 17. Explaining the company’s reasoning behind the promotion, Harley representative Susanne Dawursk says, “As we were going through the process of, How do we want to launch this bike? We really gravitated towards the whole idea of, Well, this is an individual expression; this is sort of your version of your rebellion, so to speak.” She says the rest of the concept just fell in line.

The special Harley gas tanks are due to be auctioned off, with some of the proceeds going to the CUE Art Foundation, which provides opportunities for emerging visual artists. For those who are unable to bid on the star items, many of the artists will also be exhibiting some of the classic posters they’ve made over the years at the event.

“The beauty of this is that it appeals to so many different people in so many different ways.” Dawursk says. “It’s really a great representation of how all of these different themes, while maybe producing different products and relating in a different way, have incredible similarities.” For more information on the Harley-Davidson Iron 883, click here; for more information on the exhibit, click here. JASON LE MIERE