It’s natural for art and cars to go hand in hand since the latter starts out as art imagined by its designer anyway. Art can be found in cars, on cars, as cars and featuring cars. This particular poster collection has some very lovely regional car art we can all appreciate.
For the better part of the last two years, Piotr Jędrzejuk has been working on a poster collection, a one-per-state print series that features various roadside locations in America. He was very taken with the idea and aesthetic of vintage illustrations and travel posters and wanted to put his own spin on things.
The collection, called Grand Touring Art, has over 50 illustrations. Jędrzejuk enlisted the help of two senior artists to bring his vision to a reality. He also gained permission from amateur photographers to use their photos as a basis for the illustrations. The resulting posters are cheery, splashes of color that feature all sorts of cars in all kinds of places.
Even with the help, though, it was a slow process. Jędrzejuk spoke via email about working many, many 16-hour days because he also had his full-time job during the day. Creating the posters was a passion project that happened whenever he had a free second during nights and weekends. He played the part of producer, researcher, project manager, graphic artist and investor.
“The project was a huge learning process,” he wrote. “As a team, we have actually translated all objects into this semi-art deco style. I have seen [and] researched thousands of illustrations when I was seeking inspiration on how to illustrate particular objects (motion, fire, rain, dust, headlights, chrome), and I believe that we are the first ones (or perhaps one of the few) who have successfully integrated everything into these illustrations.”
You can look at a gallery that’s available on Flickr, but I think the one of Stowe, Vermont, is my favorite.
First, it’s a snowscape. Which, aside from fall and spring and summer, is the most beautiful time of year in Vermont. (Vermont is beautiful all 365 days of the year.) There are some barns, because Vermont has no shortage of barns, and blasting down the main street, past the picturesque Stowe Community Church, is The Beast of Turin! Has The Beast ever been to Vermont? Who cares? It’s a great poster.
Then there’s this lovely one of a vintage Alpine A110 speeding through the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in Idaho, keeping pace with the Snake River. In the background, dusky and purple mountains, exactly as how I always think of them to look. In the foreground, the little Alpine in the perfect shade of blue. It’s part fact, part fantasy. As any good car poster should be.
It gets even better, though. All the posters are currently for sale, starting at $25 and going up to $60. They come in dimensions of 8.5 by 11 inches, 12 by 16 inches, 18 by 24 inches and 24 by 36 inches.
But if you want a custom-sized print, the website encourages you to email with questions.