The Awesome Automotive Art of Alex Wakefield

Motorsport is a very visual, evokative thing. All bright colours, beautiful shapes and kinetic energy.

And the most compelling motorsport art gets this. It aims to capture much more than a representative image of what happened on a particular day and instead seeks to capture the feel, the energy, the emotion and the atmosphere.

These stunning images from Alex Wakefield are the perfect example. Check ’em out, and read on for his take on motorsport art.

Thanks to Alex Wakefield for sharing his work.

In my art I do not try to depict the classic wide-view vista with a car simply crossing the stripe under the checkered flag. I always seek to tell a more hidden deeper story visually. Maybe some critical moment that a fan didn’t see or know about, yet it is still invigorating visually in telling part of a legendary racing tale.

The first is of the Gulf-Porsche 908/3, driven by Siffert/Redman that won the 1970 Targa Florio. I sought to depict the juxtaposition of long shadows and Sicilian light. There is a certain look to the way the sunshine is that only Sicily has. The other juxtaposition is in the subject. Combining a sleepy Mediterranean village road with the insane speed of a Porsche 908/3. To the average person racing through tight mountain roads at top speed isn’t normal or safe. That, to me is what it’s all about really.

The second piece is of the Porsche 936 as driven by Jacky Ickx through the Mulsanne Kink during one of his night time lap records he set that night in 1977. I sought to get the vibrance of the light as well as the stark contrast of nighttime on Les Hunaudieres. To me there is something fantastically special about the Le Mans night. The ever growing sound of the car before it’s within sight, crescendoing with a flash of light, scream of sound and rumble that sweeps past you leaving you in a daze wanting more. It’s a brilliant place that every fan should experience and that’s what I’ve tried to do in this work.