Steel Wheels 5’s freight train art rolls into Atlanta

• Cole Only
• A model train painted by artist King 157.

Steel Wheels, a railroad inspired art show at Archive Gallery, rolls into Atlanta this Friday, March 30 featuring work inspired by boxcar art from more than 100 artists. The show includes photography, canvas work, painted railroad memorabilia like signs and hand-painted model trains.

When the modern graffiti or aerosol art movement started in New York City during the 1970s, the canvas of choice was almost always a subway train since it offered a larger audience. Painting a subway train was like sending one’s art on tour, trains would travel throughout the five boroughs of NYC, bringing more viewers than just painting on a wall.

Once the subway system started cracking down on graffiti in the ’80s and began a comprehensive clean up initiative, painters turned to freight trains that traversed the entire nation instead of just a single city, and the freight movement was born.

Steel Wheels’ co-curator and hype man, who prefers to be called “Mendiesel the freight enthusiast,” explains the movement’s magnitude: “An artist could paint a train in Atlanta and people in the middle of a corn field in Nebraska could see the piece and be inspired by the art.”