I think the word you’re looking for is ‘highbrow’ and it doesn’t get any higher than when you give one of the world’s most exclusive supercars to a French sculptor and have him create a one-of-a-kind special edition. This is what Bugatti did with its 1 000-horsepower Grand Sport convertible, when it handed one over to artist Bernar Vernet for a custom piece of high-speed art that will be on display at the Art Basel / Rubell Family Collection in Miami Beach this month.
What Bernar Vernet did was make use of a unique two-tone colour scheme inspired by the look of rusting metal that extends to the wheels and goes even more exotic with the fitment of rare porcelain fittings on the inside of the Grand Sport. Tribute to the science behind the Veyron comes in the form of the mathematical formula detailing the power of the Bugatti engine on the car’s paintwork itself, both on the outside and the interior of the partially open-top model.
Bernar Venet explained his efforts by saying, “My works are usually self-referential. So I found the idea of translating the equations of the Bugatti engineers onto the bodywork of the car very appealing. To me, the result is also exceptional when measured by artistic standards and bestows the object with a mythical character.”
We think the math and science equations are a bit boastful and obvious or derivative (excuse the self-referential pun there) if you’re asking, but we guess everyone is a critic when it comes to art right? It also begs the question, returning to Jeremy Clarkson’s poser a few years back on Top Gear, can a car really be art? The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Bernar Vernet doesn’t have us convinced.
