About the artist

Excerpt from Vintage Torque Magazine

Artist Matt Labutte inherited his love of cars from his father and grandfather, who have not only been self-professed “carnuts”, but both worked life-long careers at Chrysler. As a result, Matt grew up in the automotive hub of North America and has been into cars for as long as he can remember.

“When I was a kid, I’d send my car drawings with my dad to work at Chrysler,” he says, “and they’d come back with critiques and comments in red ink. It was kind of like a free mail-order art class.”
“My eventual calling was graphic design,” he explains, “but I’ve always had an interest in automotive and industrial design and a love for anything vintage. Studying graphic design and illustration opened my eyes to a world of possibility.”

In 2005, Matt started producing commissioned art work, drawing hot rods and street rods. Over the last few years, his focus has narrowed on traditionally-styled hot rods and custom cars. Matt has been honing his style, growing the business and appearing at car shows in Canada and the US to sell his unique line of prints and posters.

“A lot of my inspiration also comes from hot rod history, friends and other hot rodders I meet, from their stories, experiences – and a passion that has driven our hobby for many decades.”

Matt’s signature collage technique brings together illustration, paint and photography into one cohesive design. Pieces like ‘Flatheads Forever’ and ‘Dream it. Build it.’, reflect screenprinting characterisitics mixed with Matt’s graphic design sensibilities.

Matt continues to evolve his style and judging by the public’s reaction, he seems to have struck a cord with some of his recent work like ‘The Time Machine’ and ‘Sunday Afternoon’. “I think it comes down to capturing an emotion that people can relate to or strive for, those milestone moments in the life of a hot rodder,” he explains. For example, ‘Birth of a Hot Rod’ was created with the intent of capturing that very feeling of driving a fresh hot rod out of the garage for the first time - the smells, the sounds, the feelings of exhaustion and elation after many late nights of hard work.

Please feel free to contact Matt about commissioned or commercial work, he'd be happy to help.

All images, artwork and content ©2009 Brightwork Auto Art and Matthew Labutte