"Great size. Great subtext. Great reality. Great thing that actually got painted out there, out there in real life. I mean I didn't have to make this [expletive deleted] up. It was there. Teenagers knew it. It got 'teen-aged.' Primed. Flaked. Stripped. Bondo-ed. Lacquered. Nine coats. Sprayed. Numbered. Advertised on. Raced. [expletive deleted] Steve McQueened."

Richard Prince (b. 1949). Children, 2002. Fiberglass, Bondo, acrylic, and wood, 158.4 x 113.7 x 16.5 cm. Gift, Danielle and David Ganek 2005.59

Another of Richard Prince's series, the Hood sculptures, focuses on America's love affair with the automobile, particularly with the muscle cars of the 1960s. It conjures dreams fueled by a desire for escape, speed, and the lure of the open road—a passion that the artist shares.

Prince began painting on actual muscle-car hoods, treating them as three-dimensional "canvases." The Hoods can be wall-mounted painted reliefs or freestanding sculptures whose entire front ends are encased boxlike as floor pedestals. Advertised in the back of hot-rod magazines, the hoods are available by mail order. All the classic models, which were originally made of steel, are offered as part of fiberglass "reproduction" lines, which cater to a nostalgia for 1960s design—Barracudas, Challengers, Road Runners, Chargers, etc.

For Prince, ready-made car hoods fit perfectly into his appropriative strategies. Initially he farmed out the finishing work—bonding, sanding, and spray painting—to body shops, which would apply standard, slick auto finishes in a variety of off-the-shelf colors. Over time, however, he personalized the process and introduced his own hand into the transformation of catalogue-ready car parts into art, mastering the use of Bondo as an aesthetic element. With the finish no longer commercially applied, the surfaces appear layered and atmospheric like majestic monochrome paintings.

• Although some viewers would instantly recognize this form as being a car hood, many others would not. What do you think Prince found interesting about car hoods? Describe how knowing that this work is painted on the hood of a car alters your reaction to it.
• Prince chose the title Point Courage. Can you find a way to relate this work to its title? If you were to rename it, what title would you choose? Why?
• In what ways are Prince's Hoods different from the other series of work that he has created (i.e., the Cowboys or Jokes)? Are there ways in which these series are related to each other?
• Would you categorize this work as a painting, a sculpture, or something else? Invent a word to describe this new category of art, which has both sculptural and painterly components.

• Prince has taken a commercially available, manufactured object and transformed it into a work of art. Search around for a discarded manufactured object that you would like to transform into an artwork. What object did you choose? Why? Describe the process of its transformation. Where would be the best place to display the work you have created? Why? How does the placement of the work affect its impact?
  Visual Arts


• Prince was born in 1949 and came of age in the 1960s, during the era of the Beach Boys, whose hit singles including "409," an ode to a Chevy 409, and "Shut Down," a celebration of drag racing helped give the muscle car the cult status it still has today. Research this historical period by listening to its music. Do you think America's romance with the automobile has continued, increased, or waned? Explain your response.
  Social Studies


• What aspects of current popular culture do you think you will ultimately remember as formative influences? Explain your choices.
  Social Studies