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The thought of traveling along Montauk Highway in the summer is often accompanied by mental images of bumper-to-bumper traffic, incompetent drivers and often not much to look at.
But one of the oldest roadways on Long Island is getting an artistic makeover.
Through September 4, busy commuters and vacationers won’t have to step foot inside a gallery to view works of art—all that’s required to view this exhibition is a car. For the Parrish Art Museum’s off-site exhibition series Parrish Road Show, the Bellport-based artist collective Auto Body is using common roadside signs for text-based artworks along the 35-mile stretch of Montauk Highway beginning in Bellport and ending in Water Mill.
Parrish Road Show is an annual series designed to connect creativity to everyday life by presenting temporary art installations in unexpected places.
The Auto Body works are painted on wooden boards and consist of nature-themed idioms and colloquial phrases such as “hold your horses,” “red right return,” and “happy as a clam.” The signs, tied into local natural sites, are on view at Varney’s Restaurant, Ronnie Bush Farm and Museum and Carman’s River Canoe and Kayak in Brookhaven, Mustard Seed Cafe in Center Moriches, Easterner Motel in Southampton and the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill.
“Part of the idea for this installation was about getting people to explore the larger Long Island landscape,” said Auto Body artist Johnny Knapp. “We understand the importance of public art that reaches a large audience and is digestible to everyone, so with all of our shows, we aim to reach the widest, most diverse audience possible.”
The group of artists, which started in a self-renovated auto body shop on Main Street in Bellport Village, is not only looking to display intriguing art on the road, but to also bring attention to sites that many would otherwise overlook.
“We want to engage people to take a local road instead of a high-speed expressway and in doing so engage with local businesses and local sites,” Mr. Knapp said. “Montauk Highway is one of the oldest roadways on southern Long Island that weaves through many towns and in some cases actually becomes the Main Street of a few towns.”
The display is only temporary; however, Mr. Knapp is hopeful that a long-term public art installation on Long Island is a possibility in the near future.
The “Parrish Road Show” is on display through Monday, September 4, with an opening reception on Saturday, August 12, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Bush Farms and Museum and a closing reception on Sunday, August 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Parrish Art Museum. The receptions are free and open to the public. For more information, call 631-283-2118 or visit parrishart.org.
on Aug 4, 2017