Arting around

Vantastic: If you believe that car culture reached its apogee when pimping your ride meant outfitting your Econoline with a fridge, shag carpet, waterbed, spoked steering wheel and an airbrushed mural of gogo-boot-wearing space Valkyries, then this collection of vintage van ads is for you. Among the best: a back-of-comic-book style ad featuring king of kustoms George Barris looking all Welcome Back Kotter, and a Dodge pictorial featuring an alluring topless brunette lying in the grass in the foreground of a Ram Van with a totally bitchen hood scoop and chrome wheels at iiidragons.com/gallery/Van-Advertisements/.

Art central: Winnipeg may be Canada’s least obvious city. In the east, we think it’s in the west. In the west, they think it’s in the east. Plus, the Guess Who and BTO call it home. But the ’Peg also has a wealth of murals painted on its various outdoor walls. Combining graffiti with First Nations influence and rooted in traditional commercial sign-painting, this amazing folk art is documented at themuralsofwinnipeg.com.

by Michael Citrome

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