LIZ COHEN
trabantimino@gmail.com
I remain fascinated by the gals on many of the covers. I see them as important and defining
participants,” said Cohen. “I am learning their stories and would rather not relegate them to the
sidelines.
- from ‘Reviving the Iconic Women of Lowrider Magazine’ in Hyperallergic, 2018
Through this immersive series, Cohen produced a profoundly influential body of work which
challenges American cultural norms as they pertain to the eroticization of the automobile
industry as well as the challenging role of women’s bodies in that space.
- from Salon 94, 2021
There are stories that are better told by others. In 2015 Lowrider Magazine stopped
using models on its cover.
The fourteen photographic images in Stories Better Told by Others commemorate the
Lowrider Magazine cover models that contributed to the aesthetic, style, and attitudes
of lowrider culture. The color photographs are inscribed with enamel hand-painted
lettering by Bugs (Efrain) Gonzales, a living legend in lowrider paint and striping.
The six lithographs use graphic framing elements from Lowrider Magazine covers
removing any photographic image. They acknowledge the erasure of these model’s
contributions to the playful defiance that characterizes lowriding as a form of cultural
resistance.