TIM LAYZELL RECREATES SIGNIFICANT moments in motorsport through his art, which comes in two very different styles: realism and his version of pop art. He’s probably more famous for the latter, which zooms in on the action like a drone-mounted camera, the cars and scenery painted with limited colours, the scene given a terrific sense of speed by his trademark bars of colour streaking or swirling to distant points.
They’re compelling works, dynamic and authentic thanks to the perfect attitude of the cars. One of his newest pieces, ‘The Ultimate Lap’, revisits the 1973 Targa Florio to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s win. You’re right there, drawn along in the wake of the Mueller/Van Lennep 911 Carrera RSR as it lifts its inside front wheel mid-corner in pursuit of one of the faster but more fragile Ferrari 312PBs.
Ask Layzell which Ferrari it is and without missing a beat he says ‘Arturo Merzario’s’. That’s the thing about Layzell’s work, the moment they portray probably wasn’t captured on camera – in the case of his pop art pictures, couldn’t have been – but he puts in the hours of research to know all the details: where the sun was, what lap the cars would have been on, what damage they would have had, the
