Steve Ellis
Crashed MGB, 2002
Steve Ellis (American, born 1970), Crashed MGB, 2002, oil on canvas, 24 x 66 in. Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School, 2004.6.
"This painting was referenced by destroying a toy model on concrete, a reenactment of life-size personal experience. Then by greatly enlarging the scale and combining toy and real car elements, I blur the edges to create a subversive symbol from our society. It is chaos derived from a controlled palette painting technique - that of French realist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. I draw my inspiration from survival stories, and the art of the still-life/non-literal portrait."—Steve Ellis