Name/Title
004, Art Car, PhilCo, Philo NorthrupTags
2024, #, =Description
"“PhilCo” is my 7th ArtCar since 1983. The name refers to both my first name and the radio & appliance company. PhilCo (short for the “Philadelphia Company”) was an industrial stalwart through both World Wars before being bought by Ford in 1961. I’m originally from Philadelphia. An appropriate moniker, therefore, for an ArtCar built from an assortment of mid-20th century automobile and appliance parts. Bones and horns burst through the metal skin of this ArtCar. 125 years of manufacturing history can’t suppress the organic nature of this beast. PhilCo boasts a widow’s walk, a giant rib-bone spoiler and 3-D steel flames outlined in neon. It’s hood is a 70 year-old, shot-up fridge door. It’s been to Canada. It’s been to Mexico. It’s driven over the Rockies and now it’s driving on Houston streets"
I founded ArtCar Fest in 1997 with Harrod Blank in San Francisco, and we staged annual exhibitions of ArtCars from around the country for 20 years.
My Truck in Flux, which drove to Houston multiple times, is one of the last street-legal ArtCars allowed to drive on the playa at Burning Man.
I’ve been making ArtCars for over 35 years. It takes me about 2 years to complete one. All my ArtCars are street-legal and I’ve driven these sculptures over one million miles.
