An Art Exhibition for Revheads
Inventive, intricate, referential and dense, Eamon O’Toole’s motorsport art captures the innovation and pioneering spirit of motorsport through the medium of sculpture.
O’Toole uses materials including aluminium, plastic and paint to build sculptures that reflect his love of motorsport. His current exhibition, Revhead, is on at the Ipswich Art Gallery and features his evocative take on some of motorsport’s most magnificent machines, such as Mick Doohan’s Honda NSR500 and Senna’s McLaren MP4/4.
The exhibition is free to check out and will run at Ipswich Art Gallery from the 11th of February to the 6th of May. Head to the Ipswitch Art Gallery website here for more info.
Read on for the official word about Revhead and hit this link to head to the official website.
Photos via Ipswitch Art Gallery
Self confessed revhead, artist and dirt bike rider Eamon O’Toole is fuelled by his life-long passion for all things motorsport — a passion which he turns into sculptural creations of his favourite motorbikes and cars.
Revhead pays homage to many iconic machines of speed, which O’Toole has painstakingly recreated as full-scale replicas handcrafted from plastic, aluminium and paint. Included are fan favourites such as Mick Doohan’s World Championship winning Honda NSR500 motorcycle, Ayrton Senna’s McLaren Formula 1 car as well as the Australian workhorse—a Toyota Corolla Ute.
When developing the sculptures, O’Toole sources the information he needs from engineering and automotive manuals, photographs and scale models. He creates a range of hand-crafted and moulded components, each covered with hand-drawn and painted design work, the finished pieces are then assembled together to complete the sculpture.
Continuing the Australian tradition of ‘making do’, O’Toole approaches his work with the enthusiasm of a backyard inventor, and creatively problem solves by handcrafting materials into highly detailed artworks that are sure to appeal to both the motorsports enthusiast and the backyard tinkerer.
This exhibition brings together works spanning 25 years (1987 – 2012). Included are works from both public and private collections, and two sculptures – The Big Bang and Sidchrome Tool Cabinet – which are drawn from the collection of the Ipswich Art Gallery, where they have been popular favourites with visitors of all ages.
The exhibition is being held at the Ipswich Art Gallery (d’Arcy Doyle Place, Nicholas Street, Ipswich), one of the most highly regarded regional art galleries in the country. The Revhead exhibition is a joint initiative of the Ipswich Art Gallery and the Ipswich City Council, together with presenting partner Speedcafe.com, and will run from February 11 to May 6.
