Toy racers put Hamilton in the big picture

Tag : toy car

The picture, commissioned by Hamilton's sponsors Reebok, will go onopen display in the shadow of London's Tower Bridge from Oct 29until after the title-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix on November 2.
By the time he returns to Britain, Hamilton could be hailed as thesport's youngest champion as well as the first black driver to takethe title.
Cook's technique reflects one of Hamilton's boyhood passions, withthe Briton a champion radio-controlled car racer before moving intogo-karts.
"This concept started last Christmas when I received aradio-controlled car from my then-girlfriend and she said 'don'ttake it down to your studio and don't get paint on it,'" the artisttold Reuters.
"I thought 'Ah, that's a good idea'.
Reebok say the picture could cover a three-storey building.
'AUTO DRAWINGS'
Cook, who takes inspiration from installation artist Michael Landyand coined the term 'popbang' to define his own style of 'autodrawings', lists a sculpture made of his childhood die-cast toycars among other works.
He has around 40 cars at his disposal, including a Mercedes-McLarenSLR, with the wheel arches modified to cope with the paint and eachwith different speeds and characteristics.
The paint is applied to the tyres, or occasionally the canvas, withthe cars powered up while the public wander in to watch the work inprogress in the vacant shop premises off Piccadilly Circus.
Sometimes full size car tyres are rolled across the backdrop foradded texture but no paintbrush or roller is used at any stage.
After staring at Hamilton's image for days on end, the artist waseven starting to sound like him.
"It won't go wrong. I'm confident. I've done it enough to know whatI need to do and what the cars are capable of," said Cook.