Artists take their show on the road with ‘Wild Wheels’

Artists through the centuries have emptied their souls onto everything from cave walls and ostrich eggs to boards and stretched canvas -- so why not onto cars, one of the most powerful symbols of progress, pollution, power and personality of contemporary times?

That last genre is called Art Cars, and a collection of the same, “Wild Wheels: Art for the Road,” opens Saturday at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

The show, which will run through May 26, presents a dozen painted, sculpted or otherwise creatively adorned autos -- some still used regularly for daily transportation -- that demonstrate the range and variety of the Art Car phenomenon that began in the 1970s.

The Petersen is at 6060 Wilshire Blvd. and is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission: adults, $10; senior citizens and students, $5; children 5 to 12, $3.

For more information, call (323) 930-2277 or visit the museum’s Web site, www.petersen.org.

-- John O’Dell