tanks and helmets, Minino is dressing today’s
knights as they venture out on America’s ex-
pansive highways and twisting country roads
in search of adventure. Like the knights be-
fore them, bikers proudly display their colors,
interests, and personal beliefs on their motor-
cycles and helmets with detailed
artwork provided by Minino.
Painting a motorcycle’s gas tank is
diffi cult and dangerous work. Con-
sider the volatile nature of such a
nontraditional “canvas”—it is a
metal tank fi lled with fl ammable
liquid and painted with fl ammable
liquids. The gas tank’s placement
on the motorcycle adds another
level of concern. Typically situ-
ated between the rider’s legs, the
painted gas tank becomes a piece
of art with the deadly potential to
explode, thus maiming or killing
the rider. Additionally, any drop of
gasoline that touches the painted
surface of the tank during refuel-
ing could permanently damage
the artwork. The combination of
all these perilous possibilities is
part of the appeal for Minino. He
explains that, “The tank is on the
machine. It is permanent. You
build the bike around that piece.
It is the only thing you can see
while on the bike. It is really like
a mini gallery.”
Each gas tank and helmet painted
by Minino tells a story or has a
theme. It could depict a personal
interest of the owner of the mo-
torcycle or it could be a tribute to
an aspect of biker counterculture
of the 1960s and 1970s. Either
way, the rider of the motorcycle
with the personalized gas tank
or the wearer of a customized
helmet charges into the wild un-
known bearing the colors of his
or her own personal style and ex-
pressing his or her own individu-
ality. Minino’s perspective is that,
“customizing motorcycles is part
of that culture and that culture
likes a little fl air.”
in this scene the orange has evolved into yel-
lows and golds. The two sides work together
to tell the story that this rider will travel from
sunup to sundown and follow the river wher-
ever it goes.
The top of the gas tank is an ab-
straction of golds, ambers and
deep blacks. The high gloss of
the clear coat makes the colors
more vibrant and jewel-like. Near
the bottom of the tank is an ac-
tual cockroach preserved in resin
and highlighted in emerald green.
On its back, one might think
the roach is dead, but in fact, it
is merely laying back and enjoy-
ing a toke. Indeed, the preserved
roach seems to smoke a roach of
its own.
detail of fuel cap, Dragon Tank
views of, Dragon Tank
Roach Tank, a piece created for the Born Free
Motorcycle Show in California in 2015, has
three distinct parts that all work together to
tell a very specifi c story. The left side of the
t ank depicts a landscape reminiscent of old
Orlando Arts & Culture, v. 2.4
Florida wilderness. There is a river with palm
trees and some classically Floridian vegeta-
tion. It is painted with black, teals, and orang-
es in a style like that of the old hand-drawn
comic strips found in vintage newspapers.
There is a haziness in the sky, surely express-
ing Florida’s oppressive humidity, depicted
with hundreds of tiny dots.
The right side of the gas tank illustrates a
swamp sunset, complete with Spanish moss
hanging from cypress trees and that pointillist
haze of humidity. The teal is still present, but
What the viewer might not see
the fi rst dozen times is that the
entire gas tank itself is a brightly
bejeweled insect. The side panels
depicting Floridian landscapes are
the wings. The abstractions on the
top of the gas tank are the roach’s
antennae. Minino recognized that
the utilitarian shape of the gas
tank fi t perfectly to this subtle and
inventive reference and he ad-
mitted that “form and function is
[his] favorite part” of the creative
process.
The gas tank Minino submitted
to the 2017 Art and Fuel Show
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Snake
Tank, is a dangerous beauty. The
greens and blacks hypnotically
ebb and fl ow in and out of each
other and lull the viewer into a
false sense of serenity. But there is
no peace to be found here. Amidst
the fern patterns on the top of the
gas tank, a predator is lurking and
waiting for the opportune mo-
ment. Drawn in by the lush foli-
age and the mesmerizing greens
and the serpentine pinstriping,
the viewer becomes the prey and
the snake, perfectly camoufl aged
amongst the ferns, prepares to strike.
What elevates this particular piece is that
Minino added engraved bocote wood panels
to the knee indents on either side of the tank.
Each wooden piece is engraved with a de-
tailed fern and foliage pattern that repeats the
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