Carpoolers 47

Artist Alejandro Cartagena (Mexican, born Dominican Republic, 1977)

Date2011-2012

MediumInkjet print

DimensionsImage: 20 × 12 5/16 inches (50.8 × 31.27 cm)
Sheet: 22 × 14 1/4 inches (55.88 × 36.2 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2017.54.5

Signednone; [See Certificate of Authenticity]

Inscribednone

Markingsnone

Edition/State/Proofed. 2/10

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage taken from above of three men the back of a faded orange truck traveling on the highway. Two men are seated and a third lies on his back with his right hand on his chin. The bed of the truck is filled with pallets, lumber scraps, and various hand tools.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

For one year, Alejandro Cartagena photographed construction workers riding in the back of pickup trucks from their homes near Monterrey, Mexico, to their jobs in San Pedro, Mexico. The commute averages between 45 and 90 minutes each way. Looking down from an overpass, Cartagena made bird’s eye views of the trucks that carried men as they sat or slept amid their equipment. The workers, who lived in new suburban developments far from public transportation, relied on these daily carpools. Cartagena saw in these men a willingness “to do whatever it takes to own a house but still go to the city, where there is work.”

Provenance

Purchased from Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA by The Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2017;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2017.

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