Car-toons are coming to town — graphic designer brings twisted 2D cars to NYC

New York Post

02-05-2025

Joshua Vides sees things in black and white.
And with the skill of an illusionist and an eye for twisted art, the Left Coaster's handiwork is drawing the attention of funky car fanatics everywhere — from the City of Angels to the city that doesn't sleep.
'I came up with this 2D style that uses black-and-white paint to make a three-dimensional [vehicle] look like its original sketch,' Vides, a 35-year-old graphic designer from Southern California, told The Post.
11 Joshua Vides credited himself with pioneering the 'Reality to Idea' 2D concept back in 2018.
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Vides embraces what he calls his 'Reality to Idea' technique to make wild, car-encased art that looks two-dimensional — like it just rolled off the funny pages of a newspaper — and which, depending on the size of the auto he uses for a canvas, can take upward of 200 hours across two months to complete.
And he's brought his comic strip-inspired optical illusions to the Big Apple.
For his 'Check Engine Light' show — a free fête, running through Tuesday, May 6, at 16 Morton St. in the West Village — Vides used nearly 10 gallons of black-and-white paint and spent more than 168 hours transforming a 1995 26-foot stretch limousine and a 1991 Honda CBR 1000RR motorcycle into 'toon-tastic treats for the eyes.
11 Vides, a full-time graphic designer, has applied his 2D painting style to cars, sneakers, designer bags and more.
Emmy Park for NY Post
He's already sold the look-at-me limo — a $10,000 investment — to a local car collector for 'much, much' more money than he spent making the sketchy renovations.
'It's a long process, but I'm super super proud of my work,' said Vides, a former Riverside County, California, firefighter/EMT. He walked away from the firehouse in the early 2010s to pursue art as a full-time gig.
Now a married father of three, Vides said his career switch from emergency response to 2D innovation has 'totally changed' his life for the better.
'I'm really fortunate to tell stories through my art,' he gushed. 'I don't just paint any car — I need to have a special connection to each car that I paint.'
11 Vides was a firefighter/EMT but left his profession in the early 2010s to pursue art as a full-time gig.
@joshuavides
A staunch Y2K-era movie buff, the millennial procures vintage automobiles in working condition — hot wheels reminiscent of cars featured in a few of his favorite flicks — then strips them of their original paint jobs, covers them in white acrylic and decks them out with black details.
His masterful makeover gives each chariot a flattened, yet flashy, finish.
To give the limo a doodle-like redo, for instance, Vides overhauled its interior and exterior with black-and-white colors, plus new upholstery, tires and bright lights.
11 As a kid of the 1990s, Vides always imagined cruising through NYC like Macaulay Culkin's character, Kevin McCallister, in the 1992 hit 'Home Alone 2.'
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11 Culkin's limo ride around NYC served as inspiration for Vides' latest 2D creation.
©20thCentFox
11 Vides purchased the limo from a car dealer in San Diego for $3,000 and invested approximately $7,000 in making the renovations, ultimately selling it at a major profit.
Emmy Park for NY Post
He chose to revamp the swanky shuttle, for which he paid $3,000, in a cartoonish homage to Kevin McCallister's sweet stretch limo in 'Home Alone 2″ — a '90s classic Vides watched religiously as a kid.
'The entire project took 144 hours to complete over two weeks,' he said of the freaky face-lift.
Keeping true to an achromatic theme, the trailblazer shelled out an additional $7,000 to expert upholsterers and car detailers, tasking them with producing interior decor that matched his black-and-white masterwork — and created an optimal setting for selfies, of course.
'People can sit inside and get a photo or video,' said Vides, adding, however, that the 30-year-old limo is 'too fragile' to take for fun spins through traffic.
11 Vides' creative process often takes hundreds of hours.
Emmy Park for NY Post
11 Vides said the inspiration to paint the motorcycle came from 'Paid in Full,' a Y2K classic film based in NYC.
Emmy Park for NY Post
The same goes for his picture-esque bike.
'It was actually tougher to paint than the limo,' he said of the early-1990s motorcycle. It's a hot rod like the two-wheelers seen in the 2002 action thriller 'Paid in Full' — another one of Vides' best-loved blockbusters.
11 Vides told The Post that he loves movies from the early aughts, such as 'Paid in Full,' which feature fast cars and bikes.
He paid $2,000 for the cruiser — then spent two 12-hour shifts sanding off its original fiery red paint job.
'I had to take all the panels off the bike and paint each one individually,' Vides explained, telling The Post that repainting an entire motorcycle as a unit could damage its engine and brakes.
'Then, I painted the panels white, let them dry for 24 hours, added the black details, let them dry,' he said of the painstaking process. The final step before packing them up for their cross-country trip was adding clear-coat sealant, a transparent layer of paint that shields the auto's body from environmental damage and adds a glossy shine.
11 Vides has hundreds of thousands of followers online who fawn over his work.
@joshuavides
11 As a creative, Vides is grateful that he gets to make wow-worthy art that bring people joy.
Emmy Park for NY Post
It cost him $5,000 to ship both vehicles from LA to NYC.
But the 2D tastemaker said making his art isn't about money — it's about the freedom of being unapologetically avant-garde.
'I don't stress about success or having a certain amount of people to come to my show,' Vides insisted. 'It's more important that I'm happy with the work I get to showcase.
'If other people like it, that's just kind of a bonus.'
Joshua Vides' 'Check Engine Light' runs May 1 through 6 at the Morton St. Partners at 16 Morton St. Garage. Free admission.