Cadillactus
2024
Cadillactus is a monumental outdoor sculpture by Roger Reutimann that fuses the iconic chrome tailfins, headlights, and body panels of a 1959 Cadillac with the towering form of a giant saguaro cactus. Standing 14 to 16 feet tall, the work is fabricated from steel and fiberglass and finished in a vivid automotive green paint, with red LED taillights illuminating the cactus blooms at night. Installed on East Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs, the piece captures the intersection of desert landscape and American classic car culture. It was awarded the 2024 CODAworx People's Choice Award for its striking design and storytelling.
- Medium
- Painted steel
- Dimensions
- Signed
- Yes
Notes
Sculpture incorporates chrome tailfins, headlights, and body panels referencing a 1959 Cadillac. Transforms visually throughout the day, shimmering in sunlight and glowing at night via Cadillac-inspired LED taillights. Won the 2024 CODAworx People's Choice Award. Word 'Creativity' is inscribed in cursive script on multiple arms of the sculpture. A plaque at the base reads 'Cadillactus' and appears to include the artist name and year 2024. Spotted alongside a vintage circa-1959 turquoise Cadillac convertible. Instagram post dated August 4, 2025 with 9,403 likes, 25 comments, 1 reshare, 353 shares. Post account: 'technology'. Hashtags: #cars #history #design #architecture #art #technology.
Spotted works by Roger Reutimann
Artists in conversation
John Kearney
American · b. 1924
Kearney created large scale humorous public sculptures by welding together recognizable manufactured objects like chrome car bumpers into whimsical animal and nature forms, sharing Cadillactus's playful fusion of automotive culture and organic subject matter in painted fabricated steel.
Richard Jackson
American · b. 1939
Jason Rhoades created monumental installations merging American consumer culture icons with vivid color and Pop sensibility, closely paralleling Cadillactus's bold combination of 1950s automotive iconography with desert landscape imagery at an architectural scale.
Peter Reginato
American · b. 1945
Reginato fabricates large outdoor painted steel sculptures with vibrant automotive style colors and bold geometric yet organic forms, matching Cadillactus's signature qualities of vivid paint finish on welded steel at a monumental public art scale.
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