Jordan Griska‘s 2016 Wreck was inspired by Warhol’s ‘Car Crash’ series. Image: Jordan Griska

University of Pennsylvania B.F.A. Cum Laude graduate and Brooklyn based sculptor Jordan Griska is a relatively young artist but nevertheless an amazingly talented one. With work featured in exhibitions at Esther Klein Gallery, Fleisner Ollman Gallery, Scope Art Fair in Miami, and Philadelphia Contemporary, his art installations always begin a conversation. For ArtRepublik, Jordan Griska‘s 2016 Wreck of a Mercedes-Benz S550 Is Mind-Blowing.

Reflecting light and surroundings in a myriad of facets, it appears that a life-size Mercedes Benz S550 was wrecked but somehow, turned into an artwork with countless mirrors. No, Jordan Griska‘s 2016 Wreck of a Mercedes-Benz S550 is instead, made from mirror polished stainless steel and assembled to create the gorgeously disjointed and imperfect view of an otherwise pretty popular (if ubiquitous) luxury sedan.

Philadelphia Contemporary curators chose Wreck to be exhibited at Pier 9, a 93-year-old warehouse extending onto the Delaware River. Image: Philadelphia Contemporary

Jordan Griska‘s 2016 Wreck of a Mercedes-Benz S550 Is Mind-Blowing

Influenced by Andy Warhol’s coloured “Car Crash” lithoprint series and many other images of wreckage and crashes, Jordan Griska conceptualised of sections of highly polished steel in creative interpretation of what a car would look after a car crash and then translated the design of the Mercedes-Benz S550 into a 3D model to keep the resemblance of the luxury sedan, leaving the software to model the mirrored pieces that would be required to fit together in an over-all shape which would leave the shape of the Mercedes S550 recognisable,

Laser cut to precision, 12,000 reflective surfaces fit seamlessly, gorgeously and jarringly into a picture of absolute brutality that is Griska’s 2016 Wreck. Image: Philadelphia Contemporary

Laser cut to precision, 12,000 reflective surfaces fit seamlessly, gorgeously and jarringly into a picture of absolute brutality. We suppose it’s the juxtaposition of luxurious reflection and horrible destruction which clash in opposition yet somehow produce such a beautiful if imperfect representation of one of the world’s most popular luxury sedan’s the Mercedes Benz S550.

So accurate is the 3D modelling that you can even recognise the tail of the Mercedes-Benz S550 from Griska’s Wreck sculpture. Image: Philadelphia Contemporary

Organized by Harry Philbrick and Tina Plokarz, Jordan Griska’s Wreck premiered last October 2016 by the Philadelphia Contemporary where curators chose Wreck to be exhibited at Pier 9, a 93-year-old warehouse extending onto the Delaware River. According to a press statement released by the museum about Wreck, “The sculpture mirrors the peak of today’s automobile industry by using digital technology and meticulous handcraft to subvert both utopian dreams and reality. Spectacular and haunting, Wreck captures the dual nature of American culture by contrasting wealth, freedom, and individuality with decadence, debauchery, and tailspin, as flip sides of the same coin.”