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Audiences set to race in to latest Benalla Art Gallery exhibition

By Simon Ruppert

May 26, 2023

Impressive: Eamon O’Toole's Honda NSR 500 (Wayne Gardner Motorcycle) 1989-90. Photo: Brian Hand. Photo by Contributed

Arts lovers and petrol heads alike are set to rev their engines and race in to Benalla Art Gallery to see its exhibition Hot Lap by Eamon O’Toole.

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Self-confessed revhead, artist and dirt bike rider Eamon O’Toole is fuelled by his life-long passion for all things motorsport — a passion that he turns into sculptural creations of his favourite motorbikes and cars.

Painstakingly created out of hand-moulded plastic, enamel, aluminium foil, markers and more, O’Toole’s works are authentic scaled replicas of an impressive array of motor vehicles, tools, and motorsport paraphernalia.

Continuing the Australian tradition of “making do”, Mr O’Toole approaches his work with the enthusiasm of a backyard inventor, and creatively problem solves by hand-crafting materials into highly detailed artworks that appeal to the motorsports enthusiast and backyard tinkerer.

Realistic: Eamon O’Toole's McLaren F-1. Photo: Brian Hand Photo by Contributed

Mr O’Toole’s work has been exhibited in major solo and group exhibitions including at Cairns Regional Gallery, Ipswich Art Gallery, Queensland Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Victoria.

His work is held in numerous private and public collections.

Fan favourites within the exhibition include Wayne Gardner’s world championship Honda NSR500 motorbike, Ayrton Senna’s McLaren Formula 1 car as well as an Australian workhorse — the Ute.

The exhibition coincided with a number a key motorsport events in Benalla, headlined by the 46th Annual Historic Winton — Australia’s largest and most popular all-historic motor race meeting.