Rose B. Simpson’s ‘Lexicon’ lowriders at the de Young question American car culture

Rose B. Simpson’s new show, “Lexicon”—the first solo exhibition of a contemporary Native American artist at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, on view through February 2027—includes a massive Southwestern sun mural in terracotta, teal, black and white that spans the top quadrant of one wall and sides in the main hall. Beneath it are two lowrider “show cars” —one white, and one black with a black lowrider bicycle standing upright in its trunk. 

Detailed with Tewa pottery patterns, the lowriders face away from one another, hoods gleaming, a swirl of reflections from the overhead mural. By situating the cars within a museum that platforms global, cultural artefacts and art from as far back as the 17^th century, Simpson, of Kha’p’oe Ówîngeh/Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, cleverly connects modern day technologies to ancient time, highlighting the complex histories of automobiles along the way.