2022 Exhibit –Emergin’ Virgin
For many years, each exhibit had an annual theme that assembled a unique group of craftspeople. Depending on the year, you might find the work of café racer builders or garage builders or a showcase of bikes with no paint. Unlike those years, the Emergin’ Virgin was open to anyone who’s work had never before been in a Motorcycles As Art Exhibition. Removing any kind of thematic limitation allowed some fantastic new faces and works of art to emerge. Having this freedom gave the Buffalo Chip the chance to offer you a display that showed how truly diverse of the world of custom motorcycling is today.
2021 Exhibit
More Mettle – Motorcycles and Art that Never Quit
For the second year in a row, builders had to have completed at least 20 custom builds and been in business for at least 20 years in order to secure an invitation to join this show. Faced with the knowledge that half of all businesses fail in the first five years, it was evident these motorcycle aficionados had fought hard to become successful and legendary well beyond the confines of the industry.
2020 Exhibit
Heavy Mettle – Motorcycles and Art with Moxie
Heavy Mettle: Motorcycling With Moxie featured a collection of custom motorcycles from 38 of the world’s most celebrated builders that showed you the spectrum of history and possibilities inherent in custom motorcycling. Without a theme to guide the builds themselves, you saw the world’s most legendary builders shine in their particular niche of custom motorcycle building that’s made them a household name in a world-class gallery setting.
2019 Exhibit
What’s the Skinny – Motorcycling Without the Fat
What happens when you thin the herd of the custom motorcycling world and gather the builders known best for creating the lightest, leanest and meanest machines on two wheels? What’s the Skinny attendees found out! The exhibit showed you just how much inspiration, detail and engineering mastery can be crammed into a wiry frame.
2018 Exhibit
Passion Built – Garage to Gallery
During the exhibit’s historic 10th year at the Buffalo Chip, attendees got to know the works of a diverse group of over 40 custom builders and artists hand selected by exhibit curator Michael Lichter. This one-time collection assembled a remarkable group of professional-quality custom motorcycles all built outside of a professional workplace during the builders’ free time. This groundbreaking exhibit proved non-pros have a more powerful voice than ever before, and confirmed that it won’t ever be just a small handful of professionals who get to decide where the industry is headed.
2017 Exhibit
Old Iron – Young Blood: Motorcycles & The Next Gen
What is the next generation of custom builders interested in? What are they capable of? What does the industry have to look forward to? The world found out with this exhibit featuring the works of an incredible group of custom builders and artists all under the age of 36.
2016 Exhibit
Skin & Bones – Tattoo Inspired Motorcycles and Art
Onlookers observed a harmonious marriage of inner power and outer beauty at Skin & Bones: Tattoo Inspired Motorcycles and Art. A walk through this one-time collection was an experience that left a permanent mark on their souls.
2015 Exhibit
The Naked Truth
Unlike any bike show or exhibit you’d ever seen before, the Naked Truth simply bared it all. Attendees could follow every curve, explore every exposed inch and bask in the raw beauty of this groundbreaking display.
2014 Exhibit
Built for Speed – Race-Inspired Custom Motorcycles & Art
Expanding on the 2013 Ton Up! café racer exhibit, Built for Speed Exhibit included even more branches of racing. Custom bikes reflected Speedway, Flat Track, Drag, Board Track, Grand Prix and Land Speed Record and were accompanied by race-themed painting, photography, helmets and prints by artists equally inspired by competition motorcycles in action.
2013 Exhibit
Ton Up! Speed, Style and Café Racer Culture
The 2013 exhibit allowed guests to explore the origins and continued popularity of the worldwide Café Racer movement. This one-of-a-kind exhibit, curated by Michael Lichter and Paul d’Orleans, featured 32 motorcycles as well as paintings, never-published photography from the original café racing scene and the “One-Show” display of 21 custom-painted helmets.
2012 Exhibit
Come Together! The Spirit of Born Free
The 2012 exhibit celebrated the freedom of expression, contemporary motorcycle design and the vision of today’s most innovative artists and custom bike fabricators. Guests explored the idea that motorcycle design is as much about the culture and time in which it was born as it is the machinery itself.
2011 Exhibit
Slant Artist – An Eccentric View on Motorcycles and Art
The distinctive yet unconventional theme of the 2011 exhibit focused on avant-garde artist Jeff Decker. In addition to Decker’s ten beautiful bronze sculptures, Slant Artist featured a large and eclectic display of motorcycles and wall art gathered from his personal collection, friends and other artists. Decker also worked on a new sculpture in the gallery for several hours each day, allowing visitors to see his work in progress and ask questions.
2010 Exhibit
Eternal Combustion – 30 in the Wind
This exhibit posed the question, “How is this passion for custom motorcycles passed on through time?” Fifteen pairs of builders tied together by family, respect, friendship or apprenticeship provided the 30 motorcycles on display in this exhibit. Builder teams highlighted within the show included Arlen Ness & Paul Yaffe, Dave & Jody Perewitz, Donnie Smith & Brian Klock, Eddie Trotta & Todd Silicato, Kevin Baas & his Kennedy High School Chopper Class, Kirk Taylor & Brian Schimke, Roland Sands & Drake McGillroy, and many others.
