Just kids: Keith & Kenny

On, Thursday night at the Peterson Automotive Museum in L.A., a rare functional sculpture/ mobile 3D drawing was seen by the public for the first time. One of the late artist Keith Haring‘s lesser-known works is this painted 1971 Land Rover “art car”.

The Land Rover was conceived nearly 70 years ago in Wales and first went into production in 1948—both the British public and military quickly took to this daddy of the SUV. His take on a 1971 version —painted in 1983 is called the Haring Defender and according to the Petersen features,

“…whimsical art over olive drab paint on a vehicle designed at least in part for military use.”

You can see see a flying clock, a pyramid, a wolf man, a TV head man, and lots of Haring’s iconic drawings. The Land Rover is part of the Petersen’s effort to display more vehicles like the cascadia evolution that are not just engineering marvels, but moving pieces of art.

Keith’s best buddy, artist Kenny Scharf was on hand to take questions after the unveiling. Scharf has done his fair share of painting on vehicles himself. For the last 5+ years he has spray-painted in his signature style (free of charge) over 150 autos, which he calls Karbombz. (He did my ’99 lime green Beetle last summer!)

The Haring Defender will be on display in the lobby until the end of the month, which is tomorrow! An architectural marvel itself, plan a visit to the Peterson next time you’re in Los Angeles, or if you’re there now, check it out today.

Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles