Feast your eyes upon this 2007 Hyundai Tiburon custom-designed and
covered in acrylic paint by revered New York Artist Billy! The artist
was commissioned by Hyundai to paint their new 2007 Tiburon for the
National Hyundai Dealer Show, and this is the fruit of his labor.
In case you're curious about his procedure for painting the cars, he starts by wet sanding the car to buff it a bit and then he uses an enamel-based acrylic paint. After he completed the painting, Hyundai coated the Tiburon with varnish. According to Billy, "i sketched out the design with a black sharpie-pretty risky because you can't make any mistakes-had a blast painting it."
"Create your own reality" is the
mantra that Billy lives by, and apparently the reality he's created is
quite successful. This self-taught East Village artist has been
showcased at the prestigious Forbes Gallery as part of the Living
Masters of Comic and Cartoon Art Exhibit and will be making special
appearances at the 2007 New York Auto Show on Saturday April 7 and
Saturday April 14 from 3-8, creating live designs for the public as
well as talking and meeting with them.
Painting with an instinct he calls "Urban Primitive," Billy captures
the energy and power of the city around him in a kaleidoscope of
colorful and puzzle-like images that get in your face and let you see
the diversity and joy of the human spirit, relationships, friendships,
and the simple smile of a child. Much more information and many more
additional images representing Billy's broad portfolio can be found at
his billyartnyc.com website.
He got his first professional break 10 years ago when he was hired to
paint 60 feet of ceiling murals for the original Broadway production
of RENT. However, Billy's projects have taken him all over the globe in
the form of installations for Cowparade New York and Las Vegas, DOGNY,
Delagaurda-the New York and Vegas companies, Woodstock 99, (where
Billy painted over 2,500 feet of murals for the Peace Wall surrounding
the concert as well as the backdrop for the emerging artist stage where
the likes of George Clinton, Moby, and John Entwistle played),
RENT-the Broadway, London, and National productions, Imodium's Urban
Relief Project, a public art event in NYC where Billy's work adorned
various Porto potties including one that Billy painted live
nationally on TV's Fox and Friends.
Billy
was one of the lead artists for The Big Apple Fest, another public art
event where he painted five large apples for The New York Mets, The
IBM Building, BR Guest Restaurants, Entertainment Weekly Magazine,
and The Advertising Company of New York. Billy has also worked on
many philanthropic mural projects for such organizations as Covenant
House, The Harvey Milk High School, The Fresh Air Fund, and The Fine
Arts Association.
If you owned a piece of art like this, could you bring yourself to drive it?
At least I know it would make me smile to be driving behind it!
By Brandy Schaffels