Robb Report Collectibles: Get It Right on the Nose
02/01/2005
For Santa Monica, Calif.-based artist Jeff DiCicco, the happiest hallmarks of beach living are not blue skies or bikinis. As a photo-realist painter of fine cars, DiCicco finds greater pleasure in Santa Monica’s automotive culture. He describes the coastal mecca as an “automotive heaven.”“The weather is perfect year-round,” says DiCicco, “which makes it suitable for people to cruise around in their Jags, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc.–new and vintage. A few weeks ago I saw a ’37 Talbot-Lago gliding down San Vicente Boulevard. That just doesn’t happen much anywhere on the planet! These cars are typically seen only in museums or at concours events.”
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This daily inspiration motivates DiCicco’s quest to capture what he calls the
“dynamic expression” of automotive design. DiCicco believes that automotive form
parallels human form in its balance of utility and aesthetics. “A
beautiful-sounding V-12 engine with a row of carburetors tucked snugly under an
amazingly sculpted bonnet is truly impressive to me,” he says. To honor this
union of form and function, DiCicco paints with care, paying particular
attention to the “vast tonal range” and highly polished surfaces of the
automotive body. His focus is often tight; a cropped perspective allows great
evocation of detail, so that DiCicco can capture “the beauty in the curves of a
fender, for example, or the reflection of the sky, sun, and clouds in a chrome
headlight bezel.”
Artist Jeff DiCicco’s paintings get up close and personal with a
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DiCicco first found his passion for cars at the age of 5, when he began
sketching autos, but it was in a class at Virginia Commonwealth
University–where DiCicco received his bachelor of fine arts–that he painted his
first “motor oil,” a 2-by-3-foot canvas of a an Aston Martin DB3. “I knew before
I even completed it that this was the path I would take,” he says.
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The path has taken DiCicco to the (garage) doors of myriad car enthusiasts. Many of his pieces are commissioned. He begins the process with an extensive photo shoot and owner interview. Over the course of three weeks to two months (depending on the size of the painting), DiCicco creates a custom masterpiece tailored to the car and its owner. It is a process he loves, for the pleasure of painting, and for the impact of the final likeness.
“For many lifetimes to come, I want to continue to give people feelings of awe when they look at my artwork,” says DiCicco. “Besides the process of actually creating my paintings, this is what it is all about.” Those in the Los Angeles area can see DiCicco’s work in an exhibit this spring at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Jeff DiCicco, 310.395.4498, www.jeffdicicco.com
Petersen
Automotive Museum, 323.930.2277, www.petersen.org