Ironman 3 Marks Fast and Furious Rise of Artist Jake Shelton

Jake Shelton, the award-winning Hot Rod artist whose stunning car sculptures and functional automobile art have been snapped up by serious collectors on six continents, has now impacted a larger public with the life-sized kinetic statue featured in Ironman 3.

In a wide range of commissions, Shelton has created a Lamborghini bed for a Grammy Award-winning diva, a Cadillac couch for Snoop Lion, and is now at work on a '64 Riviera living-room set for the drummer of a famed metal band, in addition to the Ironman 3 art. (See Video.)

"Eighty-thousand dollars for a bed may seem steep," said Hollywood producer T Michael, "but not when it's made out of a Lamborghini."

Hammer-to-Metal Aesthetic

Shelton's "Car Crash Sculpture" for Ironman 3, which graces Tony Stark's mansion, was constructed from wrecked remains of Monaco Formula-One racecars from Ironman 2.

Four Shelton works have also appeared in J.J. Abrams' Revolution, the NBC television series, including the 14-foot cross created from junked car parts.

Shelton regularly haunts auto boneyards for "The Bodies" hoods, fenders, rooftops, trunks, and engines that he "up-cycles" into functional art for a select cadre of Hot Rod enthusiasts rock stars, rappers, R&B artists, celebrities, athletes, and classic-car aficionados in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

"All of my art comes from deep love of Hot Rods and Kustom Kulture," said Shelton, citing his immense respect for Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, George Barris of the Barris Brothers, the late Dean Jeffries, the late Larry Watson, Red Harden, and Robert Williams, as well as influences of Surf culture, the Lowrider ethos, Polynesian and Tiki art, and Punk Rock roots.

"Kustom Kulture is essentially a subversive aesthetic," he said, "an attack against mass production, a Retro rocket fired into the dark soul of the past. It says this old, discarded, underused thing can in the right hands become something more than it ever was."

Classic-Car Iconoclast

"To take a piece of a thing that used to go fast and make it go fast again," he said, "is feeling that the energy of the road is still in that fender, hood, front clip, door, whatever it is and it's waiting for me to make it fast, cool, and beautiful again.

"No car part is beyond hope," he said. "I especially love to work with cars that have history with their owners, or a client who has a specific car in mind, like a make/model/yearthat means something to her or him.

"I expand the elements at hand into organic, blended, flowing design," Shelton said. "The lines and shape of the piece extend and echo the idea of the car, in a new form."

At age 10, rambunctious Jake received from his exasperated Dad life-changing gifts: an ancient GMC truck and a sledgehammer. His father hoped these might occupy an afternoon; young Jake beat on the truck for nearly a month. At 11, exuberance turned to subtlety: Jake took apart the family lawnmower, his first attempt at a Hot Rod.

That hammer-to-metal aesthetic turned into a Passion and then an Art.

Reality: The Long Happy

Shelton's clients and venues have also included Tommy Hilfiger in New York City, Fender Musical Instruments Corp., the Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding, the International Motocross Freestyle Association, the Paul Mitchell Ultimate Bumps and Jumps, Cardinals Stadium in Arizona, and the F/A-18 Sharpshooters of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Lauded for "scintillating creations" by Gothic Beauty magazine, dubbed "The Chop Shop Guru" by Phoenix magazine, he also earned praise from famed motorcycle designer, the late Indian Larry, who affectionately called Shelton "the Martha Stewart from hell."

In addition to Ironman 3 and J.J. Abrams Revolution on NBC, Shelton's art has been featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Fox Sports Networks Motor Sports Mania, MTV 2's Burnout, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, The DIY Network's Man Caves, Martha Stewart Living, Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls, and ABC's Nightline, among others.

Shelton is at work on a slate of new commissions and in negotiations with television executives and producers in Los Angeles and New York for a TV Reality show based on his life and art.

"I'm psyched," Shelton said, "that clients who have had my art pieces for 10, 15, 20 years are still thrilled with them."

"How many things in life keep you happy for that long?"

SOURCE Jake Shelton Art