Photo: Chris Labrooy
Whenever an artist and a car person meet, the discussion always migrates towards a question along the lines of "why don't you draw/paint this or that cool car?" And the answer is always the same: "Cars aren't art!"
To a degree, that's correct. Cars can't be art because they're functional, much like a phone or refrigerator doesn't normally belong in a Tate. But you can still challenge convention by showing cars in an unnatural state.
That's precisely what the work of Chris Labrooy is all about, a mix of the irrelevant and sublime that... well, hopefully, will look good on your wall next to your minimalist mid-century furniture or in your industrial office.
Fresh out of school, Chris tried out 3D as a simple form of mapping and modeling but quickly realized it could also be used in art, making realistic yet somehow also impossible machines. Though he works with other vehicles as well, the Porsche 911 seems to be his favorite machine, and we can kind of see why. Thanks to an evolutionary approach to design, the classic air-cooled cars look more relevant and contemporary.
That bubble-like shape was taken by the artist in two directions. First, he turned it into an inflatable German pool toy, sometimes complete with a flamingo head like those quirky drinks holders. Other pieces depict 12 old 911 RS models sinking into a pool, their blue paint matching a desert sky setting.
But the best one of all is his latest render, shows a 911 that's able to fly. The wheels have been replaced by circular jet engines that swivel for hovering/propulsion. It looks a bit like Howard Stark's flying car from the first Captain America movie, but more advanced. Maybe Hydra found the patents and made their own Tesseract-powered version. The only problem is that a flying car is practical and thus not art anymore, but we should let that slide.
That's precisely what the work of Chris Labrooy is all about, a mix of the irrelevant and sublime that... well, hopefully, will look good on your wall next to your minimalist mid-century furniture or in your industrial office.
Fresh out of school, Chris tried out 3D as a simple form of mapping and modeling but quickly realized it could also be used in art, making realistic yet somehow also impossible machines. Though he works with other vehicles as well, the Porsche 911 seems to be his favorite machine, and we can kind of see why. Thanks to an evolutionary approach to design, the classic air-cooled cars look more relevant and contemporary.
That bubble-like shape was taken by the artist in two directions. First, he turned it into an inflatable German pool toy, sometimes complete with a flamingo head like those quirky drinks holders. Other pieces depict 12 old 911 RS models sinking into a pool, their blue paint matching a desert sky setting.
But the best one of all is his latest render, shows a 911 that's able to fly. The wheels have been replaced by circular jet engines that swivel for hovering/propulsion. It looks a bit like Howard Stark's flying car from the first Captain America movie, but more advanced. Maybe Hydra found the patents and made their own Tesseract-powered version. The only problem is that a flying car is practical and thus not art anymore, but we should let that slide.
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