Salt holds a unique place in Ikon’s history, being the first artist to exhibit at the gallery in its original Bullring venue in 1965.

Since then, his artistic output has been more or less dedicated to the portrayal of cars; a subject rooted in his upbringing in Birmingham, a city of car manufacturing, and then developed while studying for a scholarship at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore.

Salt’s early car paintings are reproductions of the slick images found in Buick sales brochures, produced to sell the American Dream. Bride (1969), for example, with its view through the passenger’s door, encourages us to linger on the luxurious red upholstery.

This booklet has been produced by Ikon Gallery to complement John Salt’s exhibition (May – July 2011) and includes illustrations of the exhibited works dating from 1969 – present.