File:Lewis deSoto Cahuilla 2006.JPG

Conceptual car by Lewis deSoto, Cahuilla, 2006; Autry Museum, 2023). The image illustrates a key body of work by Lewis deSoto: his drivable conceptual cars, which explored automotive, cultural and personal histories. This image shows his 2006 car, Cahuilla, a reworked 1981 General Motors pickup, the year marking when Indian tribes received the right to build and run gaming casinos. Its design included gambling, currency and tribal motifs, pulsing hidden LED lights, and a sound loop of slot machine tunes, casino sounds and traditional Native chants, which critics described as reflections of Cahuilla's adaptive history channeled through Southern California's flashy customized car culture. This work was publicly commissioned and exhibited by prominent venues and discussed in major art journals and daily press publications.

Artist Lewis deSoto. Copyright held by the artist.

Lewis deSoto

Installation view

Yes. The image will not affect the commercial value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original due to its low resolution and the general workings of the art market, which values the actual work of art. Because of the low resolution, illegal copies could not be made.

The image has contextual significance serving an informational and educational purpose as the primary means of illustrating a key mid-career body of work by Lewis deSoto In the 2000s when he produced a series of fully functional conceptual cars that explored intersecting automotive, cultural and personal histories. His modifications and styling mined divergent references—colonial allusions and styling, Native American and casino motifs, military-industrial complex and car-culture elements, and embellishments to the exteriors and interiors—that yielded social commentary on various social identities. Because the article is about an artist and his art, the omission of the image would significantly limit a reader's understanding and ability to understand this key body of work, upon which deSoto's notability is based. This work brought him continuing recognition through exhibitions in major venues, coverage by major critics and publications, and museum exposure. DeSoto's work of this type and this series, as well as this specific work, are discussed in the article and by critics cited in the article.

There is no free equivalent of this or any other of this series by Lewis deSoto, so the image cannot be replaced by a free image.

The image use is minimal in that it conveys important information that a full artwork image at a limited fair-use size cannot due to the uniquely hyper-detailed nature of the work. By providing a close-up of the artist's style and imagery, it is significantly more informative for a viewer. It is also a further protection (along with the low resolution) against affecting commercial value.