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

David S. Billingsley and Helen L. Billingsley

These children are identified as David S. Billingsley and Helen ...

Mrs. Bob Campbell

This photograph was taken at the Bushong & Feldman Studio in El ...

Wedding Couple

Written on the photograph - "Season's Greetings and a Happy New ...

Gist House

The Gist House where Maude & Zach White spent their first ...

Plaza Bandstand

This view of the Plaza looks across Oregon St. towards the ruins ...

Mrs. Sarah Gist - El Paso, Texas

Mrs. Gist, a widow, ran a boarding house at 501 Mesa from ...

Plaza and U.S. Custom House

This view looks across the Plaza and St. Louis (Mills) St. to ...

Billy Wilson and Mrs. U.S. Stewart

Mrs. Ulysses S. Stewart was married to a cashier of the First ...

International Bridge - circa 1895

This view shows two boys on horse or mule back, with a glimpse ...

Group of Women in a Religious Procession

Groups of women dressed in white gowns walking down Mesa street ...

Parade in Downtown El Paso

The image shows a wagon participating in a parade in 1930. The ...

Snow Fall In El Paso

View of the Hussmann (now Cortez) building, during Christmas Eve ...

Eva Reckhart

Eva Reckhart was the daughter of Captain Jack Crawford, "the ...

Captain Jack Crawford, the Poet Scout

A Civil War veteran, scout with General Crook, actor in Buffalo ...

San Jacinto Plaza

"Glimpse of San Jacinto Plaza, El Paso, Texas. A beautiful ...

Trost Buildings on Mills Street

The notation on the postcard says: "2314 Mills Street Looking ...

Barricade on Commercial Street, Juarez

The picture was taken at Calle de Comercio, Juarez, during the ...

Hotel Hilton 1941

This postcard features the Hotel Hilton in 1941. On the front it ...

Hotel Paso Del Norte

The postcard shows the Hotel Paso Del Norte, it probably dates ...

Pioneer Plaza

The notation on the postcard says: "Pioneer Plaza (Little Plaza) ...

Image of Downtown El Paso

Mesa looking south past San Jacinto Plaza.

Hotel Cortez

The Cortez was designed by the famous architect Henry C. Trost ...

El Paso Chamber of Commerce - El Paso, Texas

Chamber of Commerce, El Paso, Texas. Visible: A gray building ...

home.search_collection