As popular as fish and chips: Toyota reveals artworks celebrating the Corolla’s enduring popularity

Fish and chips, biscuits, picnics, high streets and car boot sales all feature in a series of artworks produced to celebrate the Toyota Corolla as a Great British icon and the world’s favourite passenger car.

Toyota (GB) today revealed the results of the Corolla Great British Art project which challenged artists to produce works celebrating the enduringly popular Corolla hybrid – a car that is made in Britain (at Toyota’s Burnaston factory) and loved by people from all walks of life.  Worldwide, more than 50 million have been sold across seven decades. The initiative followed the latest Corolla ad campaign which took a humorous look at the diverse lives of Corolla owners.

The artists developed a range of themes using different media and giving their imagination free rein. The project also included a Corolla Art Competition for students at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), close to Toyota’s UK head office in Surrey. This produced an overall winner and four highly commended works.

Carla Henson, Toyota (GB) General Manager of Strategy and People, said: “The range and quality of artworks accurately and creatively reflect our brief to create something that captures the essence of the ever-popular and enduring Corolla. We were also impressed that the artists researched what the Toyota brand stands for, in particular our mission to provide sustainable mobility for all.”

Tom Walker, Illustration and Fine Art Programme Director at UCA, said: “Giving our students a real brief from an external client like Toyota means they’re not just hearing their tutors’ voices, but genuinely engaging with external voices that shape the industry. It’s a brilliant reminder that a global partner but locally orientated brand can create opportunities right here in Surrey.”

The artworks have been displayed at Toyota (GB)’s headquarters and are set to travel to other Toyota locations in the UK, including the Corolla factory at Burnaston in Derbyshire.

The Corolla Artworks

Car Boot Scene by Jane Smith from Sheffield

Jane Smith’s artwork features the traditional British car boot sale, populated with Corolla hatchbacks. She commented: “I think it’s important to show that cars are a useful part of life, not just about getting from A to B.  Who doesn’t love a British car boot sale! They are great for shifting unwanted stuff, helping the planet through recycling, getting out and meeting people.”

Smith’s style is contemporary and stylised, with a focus on urban architecture. She used pen and ink to sketch the Corolla picture, then added colour digitally.

She is a professional artist based in Sheffield, with 40 years’ experience as an illustrator.

Corolla 5 Million by Mr Doodleey from Preston
Prem Sanker Sasidharan, aka, Mr Doodleey from Preston, Lancashire, took his inspiration from the phrase ‘British tapestry’. Hence his doodle artwork features icons of British life such as a cup of tea, fish and chips, a football, a phone box and the London Eye, erupting from a Corolla.  He also references different types of Corolla owner and Toyota-themed elements.

It took him five days to create the piece, which he sketched on a tablet before adding colour, including Union Jack red, white and blue.

He said: “I started with the ‘5 million’ as it’s such a milestone, then freestyled my doodles from there. Doodling is the art of having a free mind; different people will see the piece through their own perspective. It’s great that companies like Toyota can provide opportunities for artists like me who don’t have much of a profile yet. Art helps people look at a company and its products in a different light.” 

Sanker started doodling while studying electronic engineering 10 years ago and now runs a doodling business alongside his role as a support worker in north west England.

Where you go, I go, by BeauBottletops – Jessie Marie from Brighton

The inspiration for Jessie Marie’s piece was ‘something for everyone’. Believing strongly in diversity, her artwork depicts people from different backgrounds, incomes and locations. There are 660 bottle tops layered on the canvas, each recycled from Brighton beach. Marie sees her work as being like a universe, with each bottle top its own world. She cut out pieces of vintage road maps to stick as a base inside each bottle top, representing Great Britain and included multimedia items such as buttons and miniature figures to represent people from all walks of life.   A collage flows from the Corollas, incorporating elements that represent Toyota’s global reach.

Marie said: “It looks random, but it’s all meticulously planned. Sustainability was a big part of this piece. Everything has been repurposed for an organisation that is conscious about its sustainable impact”.

Marie is a self-taught artist with a degree in psychology and a 10-year background in mental health work. Two years ago she left social work to pursue her passion for art and she hasn’t looked back. She now works for a jeweller in The Lanes three days a week, alongside running art exhibitions in Brighton to showcase emerging and established artists.

Winning UCA Student entry Lie Louie Walters

Lie Louie Walters, a 21-year-old UCA BA (Hons) Fine Art student from Alton, Hampshire, began his piece with a digital collage of quintessentially British imagery. This was then translated into a painting using Procreate, resulting in a cinematic composition that captures a personal moment between the viewer and their dining table.

Walters commented: “I was inspired by everyday British experiences, accessible to anyone.  We’ve all at some point hoped for biscuits and been greeted by a sewing kit. I reflected on typical biscuit tin imagery, often depicting beautiful countryside cottages, and wondered how a ‘biscuit tin car’ would fit within that landscape. I chose two specific Corolla colours – green and red – which are traditionally associated with Christmas. Once paired with the comforting glow, I hoped to capture warmth, curating a scene as if the viewer has received a sneakily hidden gift – the keys to a Corolla.

He added: “I am passionate about capturing lived experiences through art. Art and art culture represent a new age of thinking that critically engages a wide variety of audiences, allowing everyday folk to make a more emotional connection with World issues. I am thrilled to help Toyota push art to wider audiences.”

The highly commended student works:

Four BA (Hons) Illustration UCA students were also highly commended by the Toyota and UCA judging panel: Liz Johnson, from Reigate, Surrey; Lucy Hartley, from Hampshire; Harriet Beadsley from Petworth, West Sussex; and Katie Osang from Farnham. Surrey.

ENDS