TONY LAURO

Automotive Artist

My fascination with automotive art and sculpture first began while I was a design student at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

During my time in the program I ate, slept, and breathed all things cars. I was a man possessed, unrelenting in my obsession. I sketched cars seven days a week for at least 8 to 10 hours a day the entire year. In addition to perfecting my design skills, I tried to increase my knowledge and design vocabulary by immersing myself in anything automotive related. Techniques, motorsports, design icons, engineering, fabrication… everything!

It was during this time that I discovered a group of artists who were displaying automotive artwork at various concours d’elegance. I was immediately fascinated with the concept of creating artwork that could transcend the constraints that I was bound to as a design student. I soon found myself supplementing my design assignments with “creative breaks”. Stolen moments where I could relax by creating automotive artwork and sculpting the occasional speed form. It was addicting. My student work began to slip more into the creative art realm than the practical, surely affecting my chances of becoming a designer for the “Big Three”. It also probably didn’t help that all I ever talked about was Ferrari, Porsche and F1 in a corporate “Big Three” Detroit environment!

Designing four dour sedans and SUV’s was the price of admission to a OEM design position during the early 1990’s. Trucks never stirred my creative soul and I soon found myself yearning to extend my reach. It was then that I began to believe that there might be something more should I not get hired as a designer. I often daydreamed of hand-building my own sports car much like my childhood hero Enzo Ferrari.  Why not learn to do so by creating automotive sculpture? Although not as exhilarating as fabricating my own exotic car, creating sculpture would be less daunting of a leap.

That singular thought back in 1994 sent me down a road that has taken the entirety of my life. Along the way I worked at numerous design jobs to support my dream. I put in the hours and did whatever it took to stay on track with my vision. I have spent my entire life learning about the legendary Carrozzerias and their techniques. I wanted to engage enthusiasts in a way that they could understand and connect with based on the common knowledge of how the cars of their dreams were made. I knew if they saw the exposed wooden buck and the raw, hammered aluminum they would know and share my passion.

Of course this meant acquiring the tools to do so. I’ve spent years saving enough money to slowly accumulate the myriad of tools necessary for my journey. I also traveled and studied alongside several of the Nation’s greatest metal crafters. I honed my skills night and day until I felt ready to unleash my creativity.

That first vision was my sculpture entitled “Heritage of Speed”.

The primary focus of my automotive sculpture is to capture the raw energy, speed, and fluidity of the automotive form. I try to reflect the techniques and traditional methods of fabrication that influenced the character of the original design.  The hand-built subtleties that give a car its’ persona. The nuances of undulating curves of aluminum as they intersect in sharp creases. The contrasting rough hewn, underlying wooden buck that serves as the foundation. I combine all these different artistic elements into a singular, emotional statement.