The BMW Art Car was conceived in 1975, the year that French auctioneer and racecar driver Herve Poulain first entered 24 Hours of Le Mans. Searching for a link between art and motorsport, Poulain asked his friend, noted artist Alexander Calder, to commission a rolling canvas on the BMW 3.0 CSL that he would race. In the years that followed, this unique combination of motorsport and BMW design fascinated the famous artists of our time. Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol have all turned BMW racing cars into Art Cars.Â
The Rauschenberg BMW 635 CSi Art Car – the sixth addition to BMW’s collection of 15 Art Cars – is the first in which the artist used photographic methods to transfer images (including images of famous, classical paintings) to the car. Rauschenberg extended his use of Art Car motifs in his six-part, 1988 “Beamer” series – presented as transparent films on enameled aluminum and using his trademark collage techniques. The paintings will be offered for sale from the artist’s private collection.
The Rauschenberg car made its first appearance in 1986 at the BMW Gallery on Park Avenue in New York City, and in 1988 made its European debut in West Berlin. Since then it has been exhibited across Europe and was a centerpiece of the acclaimed 1997 Rauschenberg retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
Born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1925, Rauschenberg is recognized as one of the 20th century’s most influential and prolific artists. He is credited with bridging the gap between the movements of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. A pioneer of the “Transfer Drawing” process, he experimented in technologically sophisticated combinations of photographs and drawings. As such, his trademark BMW Art Car design includes trompe l’oeil images of Bronzino’s 16th century painting “Portrait of Young Man” and Ingres’s “Odalisque.”Â
Since 1975, outstanding artists from all over the world have been designing the BMW automobiles of their era. The BMW Art Car Collection include works by well-known artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, A.R. Penck, David Hockney and Jenny Holzer. The Art Cars reflect the developments in art history with regard to fine art, design and technology and are displayed worldwide in major museums such as the Paris Louvre, the Royal Academy in London, the New York Whitney Museum of Modern Art, Venice’s Palazzo Grassi, Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum and the Guggenheim Museums of New York and Bilbao. In the future, too, Art Cars will document the fascinating link between art and technology in international exhibitions.
Chronological list of all BMW Art Cars.
Alexander Calder (USA) 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL
Frank Stella (USA) 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL
Roy Lichtenstein (USA) 1977 BMW 320i Group 5 Race Version
Andy Warhol (USA) 1979 BMW M1 Group 4 Race Version
Ernst Fuchs (Austria) 1982 BMW 635 CSi
Robert Rauschenberg (USA) 1986 BMW 635 CSi
Michael Jagamara Nelson (Australia) 1989 BMW 635 CSi
Ken Done (Australia) 1989 BMW M3 Group A Race Version
Matazo Kayama (Japan) 1990 BMW 535i
CĂ©sar Manrique (Spain) 1990 BMW 730i
A.R. Penck (Germany) 1991 BMW Z1
Esther Mahlangu (South Africa) 1991 BMW 525i
Sandro Chia (Italy) 1992 BMW 3 Series Racing Prototype
David Hockney (Great Britain) 1995 BMW 850CSi
Jenny Holzer (USA) 1999 BMW V12 LMR
Jeff Koons 2010 BMW M3 GT2
(BMW press release, image credits: BMW Group).
BMW Art Car by Esther Mahlangu. BMW’s South African Art Car Exhibited in The Global Africa Project.
South African artist Esther Mahlangu’s 1991 design of a BMW 525i will be displayed at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City from November 17, 2010 – May 15, 2011. The BMW Art Car is a part of The Global Africa Project which explores the impact of African visual culture on contemporary art, craft and design around the world.
Mahlangu uses the traditional painting technique of her African Ndebele tribe. The stylistically distinctive and well-known Ndebele patterns are created exclusively by the women of the tribe. Esther Mahlangu is considered the leading representative of this art form, having achieved international acknowledgement for her work. Born in South Africa in 1936, Esther Mahlangu was taught the traditional painting technique of the Ndebele tribe by her mother. She upholds the traditions of her tribe and already began passing on her knowledge to her daughter many years ago.
“Ndebele art has, in an entirely natural way, something slightly formal but very majestic about it; through my work I have added the idea of movement,” said Esther Mahlangu. “My art has evolved from our tribal tradition of decorating the home,” says the African painter Esther Mahlangu commenting on her work.
By painting the BMW 525i she has passed on her tribe’s traditional means of expression to an object of contemporary technology. In order to develop a feel for the completely new medium, she initially painted the door of another BMW before beginning with the design of the Art Car. Within one week she had transformed the car into a masterpiece of African Ndebele art.
Since 1975, artists from throughout the world have turned BMW automobiles into art signifying a particular period through the Art Car program. Many of the cars by the likes of Warhol, Lichtenstein, Stella, Rauschenberg, Hockney and Holzer have been exhibited in renowned museums throughout the world including the Louvre, the Guggenheim Museums, and the Shanghai Art Museum. Over the 35 years of the BMW Art Car program, 17 art cars have been added to the collection, the most recent is the BMW M3 GT2 by Jeff Koons that was unveiled earlier this year. Mahlangu was the first female and first African BMW Art Car artist to join the program.
(source: BMW)
World Premiere at the Centre Pompidou in Paris of the BMW art car by Jeff Koons.
At the premiere of the 17th BMW Art Car Jeff Koons unveiled and signed his car in front of 300 international VIP guests on June 1 in the Centre Pompidou, one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions for modern and contemporary art. It is the same place where Roy Lichtenstein back in 1977 first presented and signed his Art Car.
In the spirit of Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol, BMW announced this year that the 17th Art Car created by Jeff Koons will race where the first rolling pieces of art by legendary artists raced – at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on June 12-13, 2010. Koons’ canvas is a BMW M3 GT2, which was homologated to compete at this year’s running of the world’s most famous endurance race.
On June 2, between 11 am to 9 pm, the public will have the chance to see the Art Car free of charge in the Forum of the Centre Pompidou. At 5.30 pm Jeff Koons will participate in a book signing at the official book store of the museum before he will talk about his work in conversation with Alain Seban, President of the Centre Pompidou, at 6 pm at the Forum of the museum.
Munich/New York.
Internationally acclaimed artist Jeff Koons will create the 17th BMW Art Car in the 35th anniversary year of the program.
Koons and Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW North America jointly made the announcement today at an event held at Koons’ New York City studio. “I always thought it would be an honor to work on a BMW Art Car,” said Jeff Koons. “I look forward to participate in a tradition set forth by such great artists as Calder, Lichtenstein, Stella, and Warhol.”
“The entire BMW Group is looking forward to this celebration of contemporary art by Jeff Koons, one of the greatest artists of our time,” said O’Donnell in making the announcement.
Koons will join an illustrious group of artists that include Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, and Alexander Calder – each of whom has made a unique artistic statement about the appearance and meaning of cars.
The Koons BMW Art Car will be revealed later in the year. Details of the model and preliminary design will be announced in due course.
Koons and BMW.
The germination of the idea began in 2003, when Koons expressed his desire to create a BMW Art Car. His relationship with BMW started over two decades ago when he drove a BMW while residing in Munich, home to the BMW Group headquarters. Koons is known for his heartfelt appreciation of cars. Earlier this year he was even recognized by music icon Bono of U2 as the one of the ideal artists to design a car that would make the world fall in love with automobiles again.
“We are enormously pleased about Jeff Koons’ eagerly anticipated contribution to the BMW Art Car series, celebrating its 35th anniversary,” said Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the Board of Management for the BMW AG and responsible for BMW Group’s international cultural formats. “Art Cars are part of the DNA of BMW’s cultural engagement. As manifested in Koons’ latest sculptural work, what unites us is the belief that nothing is impossible. Our company and Jeff Koons are drawn to permanent innovation and cutting-edge technology.” (source: BMW)
