Low & Slow: Lowrider Culture On The Border

Low & Slow: Lowrider Culture On The Border

In El Paso, Texas or Chuco, Tejas, the Lowrider is more than a weekend hobby. Lowriding is a way of life. It is not subculture to the Mexican American experience but part of a complex form of lived history and visual culture. It is a unique iteration of a deeply rooted tradition in auto-mobility. In El Paso, the lowrider could trace its earliest roots to the 1940s, most notably after the Second World War. Arguably, the trend originated in California and made its way to Texas. With the resurgence of full-scale car production after the war, affordable vehicles allowed the working class to access their own ranflas. By the 1970’s, lowriding was a well-known past time representative of a unique brand of “Americanness.” Lowriders were also part of a larger expression that included pachucos/pachucas with their zoot suit styling and cruising. This included an affinity for listening to “oldies.’’ The lowrider lifestyle with all its panache and florid expression is also a form of self-determination in the American visual landscape: a belief that Mexican-Americans resist mainstream aesthetics in favor of their own canon. In other words, to ride on one’s own terms, low & slow with ‘stilo. Low and Slow: Lowrider Culture on the Border has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso Museum of History

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

U.S. Pres. Taft / Mex. Pres. Diaz Plaque

The meeting of presidents William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz ...

Plaza Theater

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas. The ...

Mills Building

The Anson Mills Building is an historic building located at 303 ...

E. Howard Post Clock

The 1910 E. Howard Post clock sits at the southwest corner of ...

Teepee

I believe this is in San Jacinto Plaza and was set up during ...

La Feria Carnival Gift Shop

La Feria Carnival Gift Shop, 500 S Mesa El Paso TX.

Kress Building

S.H. Kress & Co. (1896–1981) was one of the 20th century’s ...

Capt. John R. Hughes

Capt. John R. Hughes was a Texas Ranger who had served in the El ...

El Paso in 1932

Note the Plaza Hotel in the background. Trolley lines mixed with ...

Mrs. Zach White and daughter Mary Boynkin - El Paso, Texas

Zach White, businessman, financier, and city administrator in El ...

Prof. Esterly and His First Corps Of Teachers

Mr. Calvin Esterly, a retired Army officer and West Point ...

South El Paso St.

This photograph belonged to Z.T. White and shows S. El Paso St. ...

Ice Installation by Jyoti Duwadi

This large ice installation was created outside the Museum of ...

Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Solomon

Mrs. Solomon later became Mrs. John S. Adler. Mr. Solomon was ...

Bonnie McLaughlin - El Paso, Texas

This is a Feldman Bushong Art Studio Photograph.

Aultman Behind The Camera

By 1911 El Paso was a gathering place for many of the main ...

President Johnson Visits El Paso, Texas

Johnson's visit to El Paso, Texas. Johnson is holding the hand ...

Aultman Scrapbook

This is a group portrait of a band taken by photographer, Otis ...

Aultman Scrapbook

AULTMAN, OTIS A. (1874–1943). Otis A. Aultman, photographer, ...

Aultman Scrapbook

These are photos and caricatures of reporters and photographers ...

Horses Pushed Over A Cliff in the Guadalupe Mountains

A newspaper article and photographs by Otis Aultman depicting ...

Horses Pushed Over A Cliff in the Guadalupe Mountains, continued

The continuation of a newspaper article and photographs by Otis ...

Pathe News

A selection of photos and stories from the Pathe News.

home.search_collection