You, Me and the DeVille Makes Three

A 1998 Cadillac DeVille was parked outside of D&M on Wednesday, but no one gave it a parking ticket.

The car is part of Christopher Olszewski’s Mobile Spiritual Renewal Center Project, “You, Me and The DiVille Makes Three.” Plymouth was the car’s third stop out of seven on its trip around North America.

Olszewski creates his art by draping painted “skins” over the automobile. His current project features a tiger design inspired by the Year of the Tiger (which happens to be 1998), and the Detroit Tigers. He finished the skin about one month ago.

Surrounding the car is a Caution Tape Medicine Wheel, which consists of yellow caution tape and colorful plastic ribbons. Viewers are invited to write positive messages on the ribbons and tie them to the caution tape. Olszewski considers it a kind of post-election therapy.

“We’re getting a steady diet of negative,” he said. The messages transform the negative message of the caution tape into a more positive experience.

The project is made possible by a grant Olszewski received a few years ago. With it, he was able to buy the DeVille, which serves as his personal car, a mini art studio, and as a part of the art itself.

“The car is kind of my avatar; my little home away from home,” he said. The DeVille is one of the last vehicles still assembled in Detroit, the Motor City. “Cars are not designed like this anymore. It has an old American romance.”

After the painted skin is finished with its tour, it will hang in a gallery space. The caution tape will be alongside it, which Olszewski said helps activate the space. “The tape itself becomes a sculpture.”

To learn more about the project, visit http://www.olszewskiart.com.

CLOCK PHOTO / SARAH LIEBOWITZ