Streamline, kinetic, illusion: the car as an artistic pretext

Antoine Dufilho deconstructs iconic automobiles to reveal the essence of movement: his monumental sculptures transform Ferrari, Bugatti and Porsche into meditations on emptiness, light and perception.

When the car is just an alibi

Antoine Dufilho doesn’t sculpt cars. He sculpts emptiness, movement and light. The prestigious names (Ferrari 330 P4, Bugatti Type 35, Porsche 911) are merely the vocabulary of an artistic language that transcends the automobile. A graduate of Lille’s École d’Architecture et de Paysage and a former medical student, this self-taught artist built a studio in the Lille countryside out of shipping containers, where since 2012 he has been exploring a triple artistic quest: streamline, kinetic, illusion.

The family heritage is not insignificant. His great-uncle Jacques collected Bugattis and passed on this passion to him. But where his uncle accumulated cylinders and horses, Antoine deconstructs, evides and reveals. The car becomes a pretext for a meditation on the very essence of movement.

Streamline: the art of disappearing

The streamline technique, named by Dufilho himself, is his signature. It consists of a longitudinal cut that literally makes the material disappear. Take Red Streaminspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO: seen from the front, the aluminum slats vanish, leaving only a line. The artist explains in his portfolio that this representation “evokes speed and aerodynamic research.”

This approach culminates in Velocity, a tribute to the Bugatti Veyron. The sculpture features a one-piece horseshoe-shaped grille, the symbol of the brand, which runs through the work like a tunnel. The plates follow the curves of the original bodywork, each at a different angle, creating what the artist describes as a sculpture “placed on a base oriented like a springboard.”

The influence of his medical training is evident in this obsession with the skeleton. After three years of medical studies, Dufilho discovered “human mechanics” before turning to architecture. This dual training feeds his work: he seeks to reveal structure, to lay bare essence. “He has a particular passion for skeletal work, which, once exposed, reveals a succession of fullness and emptiness, bringing lightness and dynamism to the overall form”, explains his portfolio.

The Streamline series does not seek to reproduce, but to evoke. Chamelon inspired by the Porsche 910, takes the concept a step further: “The idea behind my Streamline series, in addition to evoking wind tunnel work, is to make the material disappear.”

Kinetics: movement without a motor

Dufilho’s sculptures move without moving. It is the viewer who, by moving, animates the work. This kinetic approach transforms each sculpture into a 360-degree experience. Red Racing Flower, monumental at 4.60 m long and 1.7 tons, is a perfect illustration of this principle. The 100 red-lacquered aluminum slats “open like a flower beginning to bloom”.

“The static object comes alive due to the kinetic vision of the viewer wandering around it,” explains the artist. “He obtains a different interpretation depending on his point of observation.” This work, exhibited in La Baule and then installed permanently in Le Touquet in front of the Westminster Hotel, transforms the “beholder” into an actor.

Gunmetal Symphony, a Porsche 911 made of stainless steel tubes, takes this logic a step further. Viewed from the front or rear, it’s no longer a car but “an artistically elaborate honeycomb”. The impressive proportions (4.30 m long, 1.80 m wide) reinforce the sensation of a living work of art.

Formula One, a tribute to the single-seaters of the 90s, plays on the dynamics of the plates. The artist explains: “Immobile, it seems to be in motion, giving the viewer an unprecedented view depending on his or her point of observation.” The sculpture was presented at the 2022 French Grand Prix, a crowning achievement for a work that captures the spirit of the race without ever being driven.

Illusion: seeing what doesn’t exist

Optical illusion is the third pillar of Dufilho’s art. Chameleon represents the culmination of this research. The first two-tone sculpture, it features “a blue side and a yellow side, so that the reverberation of light creates an optical effect and an additional color: green”.

“When viewed from 3/4 front left, it appears completely yellow, whereas when viewed from the right it appears entirely blue,” the artist details. This work, presented at Rétromobile 2023, embodies the idea of a sculpture that changes completely depending on the point of view.

The interplay of full and empty creates a paradoxical transparency. In Agilitya sculpture in bead-blasted stainless steel celebrating the centenary of the Bugatti Type 35, the plates are “arranged organically, creating natural, harmonious lines”. The steel reflects light differently according to time and angle, making the work perpetually changing.

The transcendent automobile

Antoine Dufilho doesn’t celebrate the car; he uses it as an alphabet to write a poetry of movement and light. His monumental works, from Sainte-Maxime to Los Angeles, where his Bugatti Atlantic has found a home at the Petersen Automotive Museum, transform public spaces into open-air galleries.

Recognition followed: Jean Todt owned three of his works and commissioned two monumental sculptures. Permanent installations are multiplying in French cities. But beyond his success, it’s his approach that fascinates: making the automobile not an object of worship, but a pretext for exploring the limits of perception.