Car collector and artist makes you look twice

As with most artists, Louis Carvell simply sees the world differently than others, and his passion for cars and car collecting led him to create a thought-provoking (and clever) body of work he entitled: “Reincarnations: Car Parts ReBorn.”

The photographic collages are of spare vintage-automobile parts inspired by, “the dream cars of the Eisenhower era,” Carvell said. “These pieces are art in and of itself. Initially, I photographed them [alone] against white, seamless.” Eventually, Carvell decided to expand and refine his concept and place the parts into surrealist tableaux, to give one pause to consider these objects outside their defined roles.

The found-object aspect of his work recalls the bits and pieces of Dada frontman Marcel Duchamp's famous “Readymades,” as well as some of Neo-Dadaist Robert Rauschenberg's early- to midcareer assemblage art pieces, but Carvell's art differs in that he doesn't present his pieces in a sculptural sense but chooses to photograph them instead. And then there is his exclusive commitment to car parts such as Buick taillights, Hudson dashboards and Studebaker grilles. Carvell cites as his own major influence John Chamberlain, the American abstract expressionist sculptor who was known for his use of automotive parts.

“I have been collecting cars since 1969,” said Carvell. “I have 10 cars in my collection.” While the Reincarnations photo collages are exclusively based on postwar American autos, Carvell's collection goes far beyond those parameters. “I do not exclusively collect American cars. I have a 1956 Porsche Speedster and recently sold a Facel Vega. My two favorites are my 1957 Corvette and the '56 Speedster. Both are beautiful examples of American and European design of the '50s era.”

Carvell is working on completing a coffee-table book on the series of works, to be released in conjunction with a formal gallery show. In the interim, he shows select works periodically, as he did this past June at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance. The show moves to the Peter Marcelle Gallery in Bridgehampton, NY, this fall. To see more of Carvell's Reincarnation pieces, visit www.Reincarnationart.com.

By Aaron Sigmond