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BMW Art Car

Coordinates:48°10′35″N11°33′33″E/ 48.1765°N 11.5591°E/48.1765; 11.5591
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TheBMW Art CarProject was introduced by the French racecar driver and auctioneerHervé Poulain,who wanted to invite an artist to create a canvas on an automobile.

In 1975, Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint the firstBMWArt Car. This first example would be a BMW 3.0 CSL which Poulain himself would race in the1975 24 Hours of Le Mansendurance race.[1]

Since Calder's work of art, many other renowned artists throughout the world have created BMW Art Cars, includingDavid Hockney,Jenny Holzer,Roy Lichtenstein,Robert Rauschenberg,Frank Stella,andAndy Warhol.To date, a total of 20 BMW Art Cars, based on both racing and regular production vehicles, have been created. Frank Stella also made oneunofficial art carat the behest of race car driverPeter Gregg.The most recent artist to the join BMW Art Car program isCao Feiin 2017 with herM6.Artists for the BMW Art Car Project are chosen by a panel of international judges.

According to Thomas Girst, who has been in charge of the BMW Art Cars project since 2004, the purpose of the project has changed over time: "In the beginning the cars were raced. There wasn't much of a public relations effort around them... Since then, some of the Art Cars have been used in advertisements to show that BMW is a player in the arts. With the Eliason work, part of what we are doing is raising awareness of alternative and renewable energy sources."[2]

BMW Art Cars[edit]

No. Photo Artist Model Year
1 Alexander Calder 3.0 CSL 1975
2 Frank Stella 3.0 CSL 1976
3 Roy Lichtenstein 320 1977
4 Andy Warhol M1Group 4 1979
5 Ernst Fuchs 635 CSi 1982
6 Robert Rauschenberg 635 CSi 1986
7 Michael Nelson Jagamarra M3 1989
8 Ken Done M3 Group A 1989
9 Matazo Kayama 535i 1990
10 César Manrique 730i 1990
11 A. R. Penck Z1 1991
12 Esther Mahlangu 525i 1991
13 Sandro Chia M3 DTM Prototype 1992
14 David Hockney 850CSi 1995
15 Jenny Holzer[3] V12 LMR 1999
16 Olafur Eliasson[4] H2R 2007
* Robin Rhode[5] Z4 2009
17 Jeff Koons[6][7] M3 GT2 2010
18 John Baldessari[8] M6 GTLM 2016
19 Cao Fei[9] M6 GT3** 2017
FUTURA 2000[10] M2 2020
Julie Mehretu M Hybrid V8 2024

* The 2009 project by Robin Rhode did not create an art car, but rather used a BMW Z4 driven over a giant canvas to create a work by applying paint with the car's tires.
** Car shown in the BMW Museum, without the original digital lighting enhancements that were part of the art.

Miniatures[edit]

Since 2003, BMW has released the Art Cars (at the time, this encompassed the entire series) as1:18 scaleminiature diecast.

They are sold in limited edition by BMW dealers and shops. All of them have an elegant acrylic display and a grey base, iconic package with red box and an "art car" booklet inside. The first two to be released wereAlexander Calder'sBMW 3.0 CSLandJenny Holzer'sBMW V12 LMR.Initially 3000 copies each were to be produced with an MSRP of $125 (now $145) each.[11] Nowadays there are 17 miniatures, but there are 19 Bmw art cars, simply of 2 there are no miniatures. Only the works of Olafur Eliasson and Cao Fei do not have official miniatures because they are conceptual works.[12]

Public display[edit]

In 2009, the Art Cars began a North American tour, starting at theLos Angeles County Museum of Artfrom February 12–24. The second stop was in New York City from March 24 to April 6, in aspecial exhibit at Grand Central Terminalheld in itsVanderbilt Hall.[13]The Cars were exhibited in México, first inMARCO,Monterrey, and later inGuadalajaraandMexico City.[14]In July 2012 a selection of the cars were presented by theInstitute of Contemporary Artsin aShoreditchcar park as part of theLondon 2012 Festival,entitledArt Drive!.[15]

Unofficial BMW Art Cars[edit]

In addition to the work commissioned by BMW, other artists have created unofficial BMW art cars. In 1979 racing driverPeter Greggpurchased aBMW M1 Procarand commissioned his friendFrank Stellato paint it for him; this car is the only BMW painted by an artist who was also part of BMW's own Art Car program.[16]and was sold from the Guggenheim Museum to a BMW dealer in Long Island, New York in 2011.[17]The car is part of Stella's "Polar Coordinates" series, created to commemorate Stella's friendRonnie Petersonwho had died in a racing incident at Monza in 1978.[16][18]In 1987Keith Haringpainted a redBMW Z1at Hans Mayer Gallery,Düsseldorf.[19]In 1996 Artist Dennis Simon was commissioned to create a BMW Motorsport tribute on the flanks of a 1965 BMW 1800 Ti/SA for BMW's 80th birthday at the Monterey Historics in Laguna Seca, CA. In 2007, Portland'sMuseum of Contemporary Craftcommissioned artistTom Cramerto paint a 1977 BMW 320i for their grand opening at the DeSoto Building.[20][21]In 2016, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville commissioned artist Christie Chandler to paint aBMW X6for their annual awards gala atTPC Sawgrass.[22][23]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Welcome Home BMW Art Cars".en.bmw-art-cars.de.Archived fromthe originalon August 22, 2012.RetrievedJune 20,2013.
  2. ^Preece, R.J. (June 11, 2009).'Communicating BMW Art Cars: Interview with Thomas Girst.'ADP/Sculpturemagazine. Retrieved October 18, 2009
  3. ^BMW V12 LMR - Jenny Holzer 1999 photo gallery,BMWDrives.com, 2007, archived fromthe originalon 2019-02-23,retrieved2010-06-03
  4. ^"BMW Release Plans For 16th Art Car (press release)",Motor Trend,archived fromthe originalon 2011-06-29,retrieved2010-06-03
  5. ^BMW Z4 art car - Robin Rhode 2009,BMWDrives.com, 2007, archived fromthe originalon 2019-03-04,retrieved2010-06-03
  6. ^Peterson, Andrew (2 February 2010),"Artist Jeff Koons to Create A New BMW Art Car",Automobile,archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2010,retrieved2010-02-03
  7. ^Migliore, Greg (2 June 2010),"New BMW Art Car, the 17th, revealed for Le Mans",Autoweek
  8. ^"Exclusive: John Baldessari on designing the newest BMW art car."Tamara Warren.Verge.Vox.30 November 2016. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  9. ^"Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei creates BMW Art Car #18."Archived2020-04-18 at theWayback MachineCA Xuan Mai Ardia.Art Radar.17 June 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  10. ^"BMW M2 by FUTURA 2000".www.bmw-m.com.Retrieved2022-09-17.
  11. ^'BMW introduces scale models of art cars'Worldcarfans.com.Retrieved June 18, 2009.
  12. ^"Bmw Art Car Museum Edition -".
  13. ^Joseph, Noah. (February 12, 2009).'BMW's Art Cars start North American tour in Los Angeles'Autoblog.com.Retrieved June 18, 2009.
  14. ^'La colección de automóviles artísticos BMW Art Cars llega a México (in Spanish)'Retrieved June 5, 2009.ArchivedJanuary 6, 2014, at theWayback Machine
  15. ^'ART DRIVE! BMW ART CAR COLLECTION 1975–2010'Archived2012-07-16 at theWayback Machine
  16. ^abPatton, Phil (2011-05-09)."BMW M1, Painted by Frank Stella, Heading to Auction".The New York Times.Retrieved2014-03-06.
  17. ^"Frank Stella's BMW Art Car Sells to Private Collector".Gallerist.New York. 2011-10-03.Retrieved2014-03-06.
  18. ^"Stella Art Car To Go On Public Display At BMW Southampton".Hamptons.com.Hamptons Online. 2011-11-03. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-07.Retrieved2014-03-07.
  19. ^"Haring im Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst Aachen".kunstmarkt.com(in German). 2000.RetrievedJune 20,2013.
  20. ^"DeSoto Project".portlandmercury.com.2007.Retrieved2023-06-12.
  21. ^"Tom Cramer's old-school influence as a new-school creator".registerguard.com.2019.Retrieved2021-01-17.
  22. ^"Tom Bush Art Car set for debut".jacksonville.com.Retrieved2016-05-06.
  23. ^"Bio | arts-evolution.com".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-23.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBMW Art Cars.
  • "BMW Art Car Tour".bmw-artcartour.com.RetrievedJune 20,2013.An overview of BMW Art Cars with videos and a lot of information.


48°10′35″N11°33′33″E/ 48.1765°N 11.5591°E/48.1765; 11.5591

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