Cartélier Is Expanding the Meaning of Car Culture

Car culture has always extended beyond the cars themselves. It lives in music, fashion, art, food, design and, most importantly, the communities formed around a shared appreciation for them. Creative director Carrington “Eyes” Mitchell understands those connections. Through Cartélier, his cars meets culture project, Mitchell is creating a space where those worlds intentionally meet, expanding the traditional idea of a car club into something more multidisciplinary.

In just the past year, Cartélier has developed into a creative agency working with car brands, builders and enthusiasts while cultivating a community of its own. Car shows and meets remain part of the equation, but the vision stretches further through automotive art installations, curated drives and rallies, food and beverage collaborations, project cars, underground dinners, and product and visual design. Rather than treating these as separate interests, Cartélier brings them together as different expressions of the same culture.

That thinking can be seen in the project’s underground car dinners and growing IYKYK community, where the relationships surrounding the cars become just as important as the vehicles themselves. It is less about what someone drives and more about what can happen when people with overlapping interests in cars, art, design, food and culture are brought into the same room. A meet can become a cultural gathering, a drive an experience, and a car itself can become a vehicle for storytelling.

The Cowboy Who Wrangled Pegasus is one example. Conceived by Mitchell around a 2013 Porsche Carrera S, the 2026 automotive art project is the second installment of NEED PAINT FOR PORSCHE. Created in recognition of Black History Month and the Year of the Horse, Mitchell developed a narrative inspired in part by the Compton Cowboys and Black equestrian culture in Los Angeles, imagining a Black cowboy with the skill and audacity to lasso Pegasus from the heavens and bring the mythological creature down to earth.

The story brings real Black history into conversation with mythology, using the impossible act of capturing Pegasus as a reflection of Black ambition, imagination and the ability to turn ideas into something tangible. More than a customized Porsche, the project shows how Mitchell approaches creative direction, using the automobile as a foundation for artists, designers and collaborators to tell a larger story.

It is that perspective that makes Cartélier a natural collaborator for THE ARCHITECT. On September 6, Cartélier joins MAAD Artist and ColorBloc Magazine as the exhibition’s official automotive partner in Los Angeles, helping shape an automotive experience alongside works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, installation and other mediums.

THE ARCHITECT centers creatives building worlds around their own ideas, and there is a natural connection in what Mitchell is doing with Cartélier. The project takes something familiar and opens it to new possibilities, creating space for people who can appreciate the car and the artwork, the drive and the dinner, the design and the community without needing to separate one from another.

Cars have always carried stories about who we are, where we come from and the communities we create around them. With Cartélier, Mitchell is finding new ways to tell those stories and inviting more people into the experience.

THE ARCHITECT takes place Sunday, September 6, 2026, in Los Angeles. Presented by MAAD Artist in partnership with ColorBloc Magazine, with Cartélier serving as the exhibition’s official automotive partner.

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