Latest

The Paperback Rider. The Concept? Putting Art On Bikes.

By Kelly Noble

Posted on June 12, 2015

The Paperback Rider, a new creative venture, is launching this month at The Mill and is ready to rain colour and pattern on the streets of Adelaide.

Photography by Che Chorley

THE ART OF CYCLING

The Paperback Rider, a new creative venture, is launching this month at The Mill and is ready to rain colour and pattern on the streets of Adelaide. The concept is simple in its approach: put art onto bikes. Replacing the paint with paper, ten South Australian artists have been given creative freedom to design patterned paper, which Cadwallader then carefully handcrafts onto each bike.

The artists featured in the Adelaide Series include, Alice Potter, Screamdance, Lisa King, Ella Egidy, Billie Justice Thompson, Kano Hollamby, Lucy Potter, Nick Harding, Treadly Bike Shop and Vans the Omega. The artists vary in design and art disciplines ranging from jewellery to architecture, typography to painting and more. “The artist’s work are so different from one another and I’m so pumped to be launching the debut series of The Paperback Rider with such diverse, interesting artwork”, Cadwallader says. Future plans for The Paperback Rider is to introduce the artist series to other bicycle loving communities nationally and internationally, engaging local artists along the way.

The last year has seen Cadwallader undertake rigorous prototyping to ensure that artworks are preserved from the elements and general wear and tear. ‘These bikes might end up on mantle pieces in lounge rooms, but I’m really keen to see them used as everyday rides, and they’re built for that’. Whilst The Paperback Rider is not yet officially live, it has already generated a lot of traction through social media and a crowd funding campaign that received overwhelming support. Orders for bikes have already started rolling in, and with each pattern being limited to a series of three, the bikes are set to become collector’s items.

Cadwallader, an avid cyclist and a designer by trade, believes that those who cycle recreationally or seriously all take pride in their bike. “Bikes serve the function of transportation, but like anything you own, when it looks good, you enjoy it that much more.” Marrying the enjoyment of cycling together with the endless possibilities of art, The Paperback Rider enlivens the streets and works to inject a sense of play back into the ever-growing trend of cycling. Make sure The Paperback Rider exhibition is scribbled into your diaries this month; a kaleidoscope of colour and pattern is getting ready to launch and hit the global streets.