London/Munich. BMW Group and the London Symphony Orchestra present the fourteenth BMW Classics in London’s iconic Trafalgar Square on Saturday 13 June at 4pm – a free open-air concert by the London Symphony Orchestra, also streamed worldwide on YouTube, Facebook, and into selected BMW cars.

This year’s BMW Classics will be conducted by LSO Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, who leads a programme of selected highlights celebrating the Orchestra’s long association with two great British masterworks: Gustav Holst’s 'The Planets' and Edward Elgar’s 'Enigma Variations'.

In 2026 and 2027, the LSO launches an ambitious multi-platform celebration of Holst’s 'The Planets', with the BMW Classics concert serving as the project’s largest live performance moment. This wide-ranging initiative will unfold across the two years, bringing digital, educational, and live experiences to audiences in the UK and internationally.

The series begins in March 2026 with a new album on LSO Live, pairing Holst’s astrological suite with Arnold Bax’s 'Tintagel'. This release marks the LSO’s fourth major recording of 'The Planets', following the pioneering acoustic and electronic recordings conducted by Holst himself in the 1920s, and the acclaimed later versions led by André Previn and Sir Colin Davis. At BMW Classics on 13 June, audiences in Trafalgar Square and online will hear selected movements  – Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Uranus.

The LSO’s next live exploration of 'The Planets' takes place in January 2027 with two Barbican performances of Symphonic Cinema, created by Dutch film director Lucas van Woerkum. In these concerts, his film 'Loss' – featuring Emma Thompson and Greg Wise, and portraying a soul’s farewell to earthly life – is synchronised with a live performance of Holst’s score.

At the centre of this year’s Trafalgar Square concert is the world premiere of a new work by Louise Drewett titled 'Four Dances', which has been specially commissioned for BMW Classics. Written for a mixed-ability orchestra, the piece brings together LSO musicians, Guildhall School students, and 55 young musicians from east London participating through the LSO Discovery programmes. Each section is a distinct dance and each flows seamlessly into the next. The dances celebrate London itself and depict four striking public spaces. From start to finish, travelling downriver, these are The Queen’s Walk near London Bridge, Columbia Wharf in Rotherhithe, South Dock on the Isle of Dogs, and Greenwich Pier in Maritime Greenwich. These places are not far apart yet, as so often in London, evoke vastly different moods, from busy urban environments to tranquil, reflective landscapes.

For the finale, the Orchestra performs excerpts from Edward Elgar’s 'Enigma Variations'. The LSO has held a profound connection with Elgar since its foundation in 1904, when the composer conducted the Orchestra during its inaugural season. Its first Principal Conductor, Hans Richter, was also a leading champion of Elgar’s music in Britain and abroad.

The 2026 programme reflects the LSO and BMW’s shared commitment to supporting ambitious, forward-looking cultural projects. As the LSO embarks on its multi-year exploration of Holst’s 'The Planets', BMW Classics serves as the flagship live moment, bringing a major orchestral work into a fully public space –  free, open, and accessible to all. The world premiere of 'Four Dances' further underlines the shared mission of BMW and the LSO to foster young talent and expand musical participation across generations.

For the streaming into select BMW models the content is made available via the Video App (DTS AutoStage Video Service Powered by TiVo™) in the latest infotainment systems of BMW and MINI*. The Video App brings together a wealth of video content from a wide range of providers, including news and live or on-demand shows. A number of streaming services are available internationally, including Disney+, YouTube, Joyn, Bloomberg, TED, ARTE and Plex. These are accompanied by market-specific streaming services.

Dame Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra: “It is a great pleasure to be celebrating some of Britain’s greatest and most popular orchestral music this summer at BMW Classics. The Orchestra has a long association with both ‘The Planets’ and ‘Enigma Variations’, and we particularly remember the stirring moment during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, when the LSO and young musicians in our LSO Discovery programme performed ‘Nimrod’ as the ceremony’s emotional climax – a moment we are delighted to bring to audiences in Trafalgar Square. Alongside these two great classics, we are thrilled to present the world premiere of British composer, Louise Drewett’s ‘Four Dances’, commissioned especially for BMW Classics. On behalf of the LSO and our audiences both in Trafalgar Square and around the world online, I extend our sincere thanks to our esteemed partner BMW and to the Mayor of London for making this event possible.”

Ms Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, People and Real Estate said: “For 15 years, BMW Classics has stood for the idea that extraordinary music should be open to everyone. This year’s programme – from Holst’s ‘The Planets’ to a new commissioned work created for young musicians –  shows how powerful cultural experiences can be when barriers are removed. I am especially excited that audiences around the world can join us digitally and, for the second time, directly from selected BMW vehicles. Our partnership with the LSO continues to demonstrate how technology, creativity and youth engagement can come together to inspire entire communities.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: “I’m delighted that the London Symphony Orchestra will be returning to Trafalgar Square for another special open-air concert this summer. The BMW Classics brings outstanding, free classical music to the heart of the capital for Londoners and visitors to enjoy. It’s also a wonderful opportunity for talented young musicians to perform alongside this world-renowned orchestra, helping to inspire the next generation of talent as we continue to build a better London for everyone.”

“I am grateful to the London Symphony Orchestra for commissioning this new work. It has been an incredible opportunity to write for so many wonderful musicians of different ages at the one time – the LSO, Guildhall School students and the LSO Discovery young musicians. I’m excited to hear this extraordinary orchestra perform at this year’s BMW Classics. It feels particularly special for the orchestra to perform new work outside the concert hall, publicly in the heart of London in Trafalgar Square,“ said Composer, Ms Louise Drewett.

BMW Classics
London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano
Saturday 13 June at 4.00pm
Trafalgar Square, London

Gustav Holst The Planets (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus)
Louise Drewett Four Dances (world premiere), with young musicians from LSO Discovery
Edward Elgar Enigma Variations (excerpts)
https://www.lso.co.uk/bmwclassics/

For audiences around the world, the concert will be live streamed on the London Symphony Orchestra’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/lso and Facebook page: www.facebook.com/londonsymphonyorchestra and will be available to watch on demand from 14 days after the concert for up to 90 days.

For press material, please visit https://lso.co.uk/more/press.html
Facebook: www.facebook.com/londonsymphonyorchestra
Instagram: www.instagram.com/londonsymphonyorchestra
@londonsymphonyorchestra
#LSOBMWClassics

The BMW Group's Cultural Engagement, with exclusive updates and deeper insights into its global initiatives can be followed on Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture.

London/Munich. From October 15 to 19, Frieze London and Frieze Masters will return to London’s Regent’s Park. As one of Frieze’s long-standing global partners since 2004, BMW honours the artistic work of David Hockney as part of the BMW Art Car World Tour and provides VIP shuttle service. Frieze London takes its place on the global stage as part of the ever-expanding BMW Art Car World Tour, a journey that will span continents and continue well into 2026. Marking the 50th anniversary of this iconic series, the tour brings together a constellation of exhibitions across five continents, enriched by a vibrant array of events.

The iconic Art Car #14, designed by David Hockney 30 years ago, will be on display in The Lobby of The Peninsula London from October 14 to November 3. During the “Peninsula Classic Car Afternoon Tea” which runs through November 18 there will be a special opportunity to engage with Hockney’s Art Car: BMW representatives will dive deep into the origins and lead through the journey of Hockney’s Art Car design on October 14 and 15. Sculptural culinary delights will be served to bring together the British tea tradition and the BMW Art Cars’ golden jubilee. The final days of the exhibition coincide with RM Sotheby’s Classic Car auction presented in partnership with the Royal Automobile Club which brings a selection of significant automobiles– from historic treasures to modern collectibles – to The Peninsula.

David Hockney’s BMW 850CSi puts a new spin on the traditional idea of a car’s paintwork by effectively turning the car inside out. “I thought it would be a good idea to show the car as if one could see inside,” he said. Like an X-ray, Hockney’s design reveals the anatomy of the car and its occupants: the door sports an outline of the driver, and Hockney’s loyal dachshund, Stanley, can be seen sitting on the back seat, referencing the artist’s love of his dogs. Stylised engine components are depicted on the bonnet, while expanses of green sweep across the body – a visual metaphor for the passing scenery, movement, and time. Hockney’s visual language melds the car’s interior and the outside world to create a new and unusual perspective on motoring.

Born in Bradford, England, in 1937, David Hockney has been one of the most flamboyant and influential protagonists on the international art scene since the early 1960s. He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1962 and soon joined the exclusive circles of Swinging Sixties London. He established his style as his very own form of international Pop Art and achieved great popularity with it. His works – among them iconic images depicting swimming pools and Californian landscapes – illustrate his lifelong fascination with light, colour, and the relationship between perspective and movement. David Hockney’s Art Car was intended solely as an exhibition piece and has never been driven on the road or in a race.

The BMW Art Car World Tour charts an ambitious course, with stops at prestigious destinations such as Art Basel Hong Kong, the Le Mans Classic in France, Belgium’s Zoute Grand Prix, the Shanghai Motor Show in China, and Italy’s Concorso d’Eleganza, among others. Showcasing the collection of 20 iconic BMW Art Cars, the tour serves as a testament to the company’s deep-rooted commitment to global cultural engagement – spanning more than a hundred initiatives across contemporary art, music, film, and design. Follow the journey here.

BMW Art Car #14 by David Hockney
October 14-November 3
The Peninsula London,
1 Grosvenor Pl,
London SW1X 7HJ,
United Kingdom

The Peninsula London Classic Car Afternoon Tea is offered daily until November 18 from 1.00 – 6.30pm reservations can be made here.

Dedicated media slots on October 14 and 15 from 1.00 – 3.00pm can be requested here. Capacity is limited, first come first served.

Frieze London Dates
Wednesday, October 15: 11am - 7pm (invitation only)
Thursday, October 16: 11am – 1pm (Members and Invitation only preview) 1pm – 5pm General admission tickets
Friday, October 17: 11am - 7pm 
Saturday, October 18: 11am - 7pm
Sunday, October 19: 11am – 6pm

Media Accreditation

The BMW Group's Cultural Engagement, with exclusive updates and deeper insights into its global initiatives can be followed on Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture.

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptions have been made to cater to the UK market.

Goodwood/Munich. The 2025 Goodwood Revival (12-14 September) will showcase five rolling sculptures of the legendary BMW Art Car series as part of the event’s Earls Court Motor Show. For the past 50 years, the BMW Art Car Collection has continued to evolve and features designs by some of the world’s most renowned artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, and David Hockney.

Since 1975, the BMW Group has provided artists with a playground for their fascination with automobiles through the BMW Art Cars: art and design, technology and innovation, racing and engineering. The collection of 20 BMW Art Cars now forms the essence of the global cultural engagement with over a hundred initiatives in the fields of contemporary art, music, film and design. Since its invention almost 140 years ago, artists around the world have engaged with the automobile in both critical and euphoric ways.

The exhibition at Goodwood Revival is part of the ongoing BMW Art Car World Tour, which celebrates the 50th aniversary of the collection by showcasing the legendary BMW Art Cars across various art and automotive platforms worldwide. The following five cars will be making a stop at the Revival Event:

1976 I Frank Stella BMW 3.0 CSL 
Known for its participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the original BMW 3.0 CSL was reimagined by artist Frank Stella. As the second vehicle in the BMW Art Cars collection, Stella’s design was inspired by the technical basis of the car itself. The result was a striking composition of black and white lines, with the powerful 750 hp engine front and centre of the design.

1977 I Roy Lichtenstein BMW 320i Turbo 
Just one year later, pop artist Roy Lichtenstein brought his signature style to life by incorporating his recognisable “Ben Day dots” into the design of the BMW 320i Turbo. The original vehicle, which also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was driven by the founder of the art car collection Hervé Poulain and Marcel Mignot.

1982 I Ernst Fuchs BMW 635 CSi 
Number five in the collection, the BMW 635 CSi was designed by Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs in 1982. Otherwise known as the “Fire Fox on a Hare Hunt”, Fuchs’ design was the first in the collection to be based on a production car, and varied from his earlier pieces of artwork.

1995 I David Hockney BMW 850 CSi 
David Hockney designed the 14th car in the collection: the BMW 850 CSi. The result of an extended design project, Hockney aimed to reveal the car’s inner workings and spirit through his art. His detailed paintwork includes the outline of a driver on the door, while attentive viewers will note a stylised suction vent on the button - subtle touches which invite you to look closer at the design.

2010 I Jeff Koons BMW M3 GT2 
American artist Jeff Koons brought a dynamic palette of vibrant, contrasting colours to his BMW M3 GT2. The 17th BMW Art Car saw the return of Pop Art and the creation of a design which captures the essence of power and motion - conveying a sense of speed and energy even when the car is stationary.

The unique collection of cars will be on display across the Goodwood Revival weekend in Earls Court, as part of the collection's ongoing world tour.

Saturday tickets for the Goodwood Revival are now sold out, with limited Friday and Sunday tickets remaining at goodwood.com

The Goodwood Revival 
Friday 12 – Sunday 14 September 2025.
Tickets & Hospitality
Tickets can be purchased at goodwood.com or by calling the Ticket Office on +44 (0)1243 755055.

BMW Group’s global cultural engagement and updates on the Art Car World Tour can be followed on Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture.

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptions have been made to cater to the UK market.

Munich. Calder, Lichtenstein, Warhol, Holzer, Hockney, Koons, Rauschenberg, Mahlangu, Eliasson, Baldessari, Cao Fei, Mehretu. For the past 50 years, the BMW Art Car series has provided artists fascinated by automobiles with a perfect playground for art and design, technology and innovation, motorsport and engineering. The collection of 20 BMW Art Cars embodies the essence of global cultural engagement with over one hundred initiatives across contemporary art, music and film, as well as design. The "rolling sculptures" – from Alexander Calder’s first-ever Art Car to Julie Mehretu’s latest – offer a cross-section of art history over the past five decades: minimalism, pop art, magical realism, abstraction, conceptual art and digital art are all represented.

“I love that car. It has turned out better than the artwork.”
Andy Warhol, BMW Art Car #4, 1979

The artists are selected by international juries of museum directors. In close collaboration with the BMW Group’s engineering and design teams, they freely develop their concepts and inspire everyone involved. To mark the 50th anniversary, the BMW Art Car World Tour features an exhibition programme spanning all five continents and including numerous accompanying events.

“The car should not only race in a physical way but also in the heart.”
Cao Fei, BMW Art Car #18, 2016

An anniversary around the world.

"The BMW Art Car Collection celebrates 50 years of artistic freedom and visionary design. The 20 vehicles have become international icons, telling stories of society, technology and performance. Our commitment to art and culture is long-term. We are continuously developing the collection and bringing art and automotive culture together in a unique way," says Ilka Horstmeier, Board Member for Human Resources and Real Estate at BMW Group.

The BMW Art Car World Tour kicks off in Europe and Asia. On 20-21 March, the BMW Art Cars created by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Jeff Koons will be on display at the Museum of Applied Arts and the SPARK Art Fair in Vienna for the BMW Group Niederlassung Wien event “(R)Evolution of Art”. The latest and 20th BMW Art Car – the BMW M Hybrid V8 by renowned American painter Julie Mehretu – will embark on an Asian tour and be displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong on 28-30 March.

Mehretu is developing her Art Car project far beyond the vehicle as an object and will host workshops for young film and media artists across five African countries in 2025, together with film producer Mehret Mandefro and the BMW Group. The results of the African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC) will be presented in 2026 alongside Mehretu's Art Car in an exhibition at the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, curated by its Executive Director, Koyo Kouoh, the designated curator of the Venice Biennale 2026.

“The whole BMW Art Car project is about invention, about imagination, about pushing limits of what can be possible.”
Julie Mehretu, BMW Art Car #20, 2024

Important museums and platforms for classic automobiles are also celebrating the milestone anniversary of the BMW Art Cars. The 13th Art Car by Sandro Chia will be showcased at the classic car festival Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este at Lake Como in May. In July and August, the Louwman Museum in The Hague will present eight BMW Art Cars in a special exhibition.

“I also thought it would be nice if women could participate other than standing around in bikinis.”
Jenny Holzer, BMW Art Car #15, 1999

The BMW Museum, the home of the BMW Art Cars when they are not travelling the world, is also honouring the collection by combining two anniversaries in a special exhibition. The BMW 3 Series is also celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, and starting 16 June, the museum will showcase a historical overview of all BMW 3 Series models as well as the BMW M3 Art Cars by Sandro Chia, Michael Jagamara Nelson, and Ken Done.                     

“I think mobile museums would be a good idea. This car is the fulfilment of my dream. I would like to do ten more.”
Robert Rauschenberg, BMW Art Car #6, 1986

New Art Car book, new Art Car model, new Art Car fashion collection.

In addition to the exhibition programme, BMW is releasing various new art and lifestyle products in celebration of the anniversary. The 1:18-scale miniature of the 20th Art Car by Julie Mehretu is available for purchase across BMW Lifestyle Shops, with a 1:43 version to follow later in the year. Together with publisher Hatje Cantz, BMW is presenting the third edition of the "BMW Art Cars" catalogue. Interviews with the founders of the collection and essays on each of the 20 Art Cars highlight the art historical relevance and diversity of the works. The cover design of the new edition is by Julie Mehretu. Following the popular Alexander Calder and Roy Lichtenstein fashion collections, the third collaboration with Puma based on the BMW Art Cars will be announced later this year.

“So you can say, the BMW Art Car is definitely a typical Baldessari and the fastest artwork I ever created!”
John Baldessari, BMW Art Car #19, 2016

Born from passion: a brief history of the BMW Art Car Collection.

On 14 June 1975, the BMW 3.0 CSL designed by American sculptor Alexander Calder took to the track at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The project was initially intended as a one-time collaboration between the artist and BMW. The audience cheered for the colourful racing car and children rejoiced. BMW decided this had to continue! It all began with the passion for art and motorsport of French auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulain. In 1975, Poulain found a visionary ally in Jochen Neerpasch, founder and Head of BMW Motorsport, for his plan to enter a BMW designed by an artist in the legendary Le Mans endurance race. Even though the first BMW Art Car retired from the race after seven hours, it became a true crowd favourite, laying the foundations for the collection.

“Hervé, win! But drive carefully!”
Alexander Calder, BMW Art Car #1, 1975

In close collaboration with legendary New York gallerist Leo Castelli, BMW Art Cars by American artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol followed – and all were raced by Hervé Poulain and the BMW team at Le Mans. From 1982 to 1992, the BMW Art Car Collection opened up to the world, with artists transforming various standard production models: Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, Michael Jagamara Nelson, Ken Done, Matazo Kayama, César Manrique, A. R. Penck, Esther Mahlangu, Sandro Chia and David Hockney. In 1999, BMW returned to motorsport with the BMW V12 LMR prototype and American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. Eight years later, Olafur Eliasson designed "Your mobile expectations: BMW H₂R Project" based on a record-breaking hydrogen race car. Jeff Koons, John Baldessari, Cao Fei, and Julie Mehretu have added dynamic race cars over the past 15 years. Since its invention nearly 140 years ago, artists worldwide have engaged with the automobile both critically and enthusiastically. And over the last 50 years, the BMW Art Car series has contributed significantly to this inspiring dialogue.

“These race cars are like life, they are bursting with power and have enormous energy. My ideas are meant to merge with this power – it's all about fully embracing it.”
Jeff Koons, BMW Art Car #17, 2010

BMW Art Car World Tour 2025 (selection)

until 16 April 2025: Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
BMW Art Car #12 Esther Mahlangu

20-21 March 2025: SPARK Art Fair and MAK Museum Vienna, Austria
Event “(R)Evolution of Art” of the BMW Niederlassung Wien
BMW Art Cars #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #6 Robert Rauschenberg, #14 David Hockney, #16 Jeff Koons

28-30 March 2025: Art Basel in Hong Kong
BMW Art Car #20 Julie Mehretu

23 April-2 May 2025: Shanghai Auto Show, China
BMW Art Car #20 Julie Mehretu

18-20 April 2025: Art Dubai, United Arab Emirates
BMW Art Car # TBA

May 2025: 50 Years of BMW Switzerland, Zurich, Switzerland
BMW Art Cars #5 Ernst Fuchs, #8 Ken Done, #11 A. R. Penck, #14 David Hockney, #15 Jenny Holzer, #19 John Baldessari

9-11 May 2025: Taipei Dangdai, Taiwan
BMW Art Car # TBA

27 May–1 June 2025: Bratislava, Slovakia
BMW Art Cars #2 Frank Stella, #7 Michael Jagamara Nelson, #9 Matazo Kayama

15-18 May 2025: Market Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #17 Jeff Koons

23-25 May 2025: Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Lake Como, Italy
BMW Art Car #13 Sandro Chia

16 June 2025-1 January 2026: BMW Museum, Munich
BMW Art Cars #7 Michael Jagamara Nelson, #8 Ken Done, #13 Sandro Chia

16 June 2025-31 August 2025: BMW Welt, Munich
BMW Art Cars #15 Jenny Holzer, #20 Julie Mehretu

27-29 June 2025: The Aurora, Båstad, Sweden
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #17 Jeff Koons

3 July-31August, 2025: Louwman Museum, The Hague, Netherlands
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #2 Frank Stella, #3 Roy Lichtenstein, #4 Andy Warhol, #10 César Manrique, #12 Esther Mahlangu, #14 David Hockney, #17 Jeff Koons

24-28 September 2025: Contemporary Istanbul, Turkey
BMW Art Cars #1 Alexander Calder, #20 Julie Mehretu

The Art Car World Tour schedule is still evolving and will continue through most of 2026. Further stops and venues are planned, including Australia, Belgium (Brussels, Zoute), China (Macau), Germany (Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf), Kazakhstan, Latin America, Morocco (Marrakech), South Africa, Spain, Switzerland (Basel) and USA.

BMW Art Cars

1. Alexander Calder / BMW 3.0 CSL / 1975
2. Frank Stella / BMW 3.0 CSL / 1976
3. Roy Lichtenstein / BMW 320 Group 5 / 1977
4. Andy Warhol / BMW M1 Group 4 / 1979
5. Ernst Fuchs / BMW 635 CSi / 1982
6. Robert Rauschenberg / BMW 635 CSi / 1986
7. Michael Jagamara Nelson / BMW M3 Group A / 1989
8. Ken Done / BMW M3 Group A / 1989
9. Matazo Kayama / BMW 535i / 1990
10. César Manrique / BMW 730i / 1990
11. A.R. Penck / BMW Z1 / 1991
12. Esther Mahlangu / BMW 525i / 1991
13. Sandro Chia / BMW M3 GTR / 1992
14. David Hockney / BMW 850 CSi / 1995
15. Jenny Holzer / BMW V12 LMR / 1999
16. Olafur Eliasson / BMW H₂R / 2007
17. Jeff Koons / BMW M3 GT2 / 2010
18. Cao Fei / BMW M6 GT3 / 2016
19. John Baldessari / BMW M6 GTLM / 2016
20. Julie Mehretu / BMW M Hybrid V8 / 2024

Further information on the BMW Art Car Collection can be found here.

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptations have been made to cater for the UK market.

Munich/London. From October 9 to 13, Frieze London and Frieze Masters will return to London’s Regent’s Park. As one of Frieze’s long-term global partners since 2004, BMW will honor the artistic oeuvre of Ndebele artist Esther Mahlangu, who was the first woman to create a BMW Art Car in 1991. Together with BMW, Serpentine will reveal “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” (“I am because you are”), a new site-specific mural by Mahlangu in the garden at Serpentine North. In celebration of cultural exchange and responding to Mahlangu’s work, renowned actor, collector and Talk Art host Russell Tovey will curate a selection of artworks from his private collection that will be displayed at Frieze London in the BMW Lounge. He chose pieces by female, queer and artists of colour in response to works by Mahlangu. The first interview publication with Esther Mahlangu, titled “Esther Mahlangu: To Paint is in My Heart”, published by Thames & Hudson, will be launched during Frieze week with co-editors Azu Nwagbogu and Hans Ulrich Obrist. 

Esther Mahlangu (b. 1935, South Africa) has been creating large-scale and site-specific works for over eight decades and is a pioneer of Pan-African contemporary art. She began painting at the age of ten, learning the traditional Ndebele techniques and visual language of covering houses in bold patterns from her mother and grandmother. Mahlangu uses natural pigments mixed with clay, soil and cow dung to paint directly on the exteriors of structures in her village. Rather than using stencils and tape to achieve lines and shapes, she paints by hand with chicken feathers and an array of different brushes. The artist also works with acrylic paints on canvas, which allows her to explore different scales and a broader colour palette.

In 1991, Esther Mahlangu designed the 12th BMW Art Car in the esteemed collection, based on a BMW 525i – becoming the first woman and African artist to do so. Since 1975, artists such as Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, Cao Fei, and John Baldessari have turned BMW race and series cars into works of art. Her BMW Art Car marked the beginning of a longstanding relationship between the BMW Group and Mahlangu, inspiring future collaborations.

BMW and Esther Mahlangu during Frieze London
“Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, presented in the garden at Serpentine North in collaboration with the BMW Group and The Melrose Gallery, supported by Benjamin Milstein, is Esther Mahlangu’s first public mural in the UK. Painted over sixteen wooden panels, the work depicts traditional Ndebele shapes and patterns outlined with a black border. The title of the work translates directly from Ndebele as “I am because you are", emphasising the importance of communities and unity among humans and other living species.

“I am proud to present this monumental outdoor work at Serpentine in London. It is my wish that this painting brings much joy to those who see it in celebration and recognition of the interconnectedness that exists between our two nations and indeed all living beings”, comments the artist.

Bettina Korek, CEO, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine say: “Esther Mahlangu is is one of the most important artists of our time who continues to inspire emerging talents. Mahlangu is a polymath who brings art into society. This is a wonderful moment to celebrate Serpentine’s friendship with the artist and honour her work in the UK. We’re grateful to all our partners who have made this fantastic project possible and particularly BMW for their support, and we hope audiences will engage with the piece and the unique surroundings of The Royal Parks”. 

The work will be officially inaugurated at the traditional Serpentine breakfast on October 9 during Frieze London.

Various events at the BMW Lounge at Frieze London will celebrate the relationship with the artist. The lounge exhibition itself salutes Esther Mahlangu’s work, showcasing a selection of the collection of renowned actor, collector and Talk Art podcast host, Russell Tovey, for the first time at Frieze London. As an admirer of the artist’s colourful abstract paintings, he chose pieces by Etel Adnan, Math Bass, Matt Connors, Jadé Fadojutimi, Mary Heilman, Carmen Herrera and Hayley Tompkins in response to Esther Mahlangu’s works “Ndebele Abstract” and “Ndebele Abstract 2022”.  

“Esther’s geometric work inspires me deeply, the freedom that can be found within her paintings and her practice resonates throughout my collection. Geometric abstract art has been something that I’ve gravitated towards for many years. To live with these works has felt calming and has satisfied the curiosity and enthusiasm that I long for in an image. I am so excited to bring works from my own personal collection, that bring so much to me on a daily basis, into a rich conversation with Esther Mahlangu”, says Tovey. During a talk followed by a reception on October 10 at the BMW Lounge, Russell Tovey will explain his fascination with Mahlangu.

BMW is proud to enable the first interview publication with Esther Mahlangu. “Esther Mahlangu. To Paint is in My Heart” will be published by Thames & Hudson in autumn 2024 and exclusively pre-launched during Frieze London. The book explores the life and revolutionary art of Esther Mahlangu through a series of interviews between the artist and curators Hans Ulrich Obrist, Azu Nwagbogu and BMW’s head of cultural engagement, Thomas Girst as well as a foreword by Nontobeko Ntombela, curator of the Esther Mahlangu “Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting” retrospective. In addition, the South African fashion designer Thebe Magugu provides an insight into the connection between Esther Mahlangu and Ndebele culture in relation to fashion as part of the book.

On October 9, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Azu Nwagbogu and Thomas Girst will talk about their collaboration for “Esther Mahlangu. To Paint is in My Heart” at the BMW Lounge and will sign copies the book which will be on sale on site.

The year marks a pinnacle in Esther Mahlangu’s career. Besides the manifold activities during Frieze London, a retrospective of her work is touring the world: “Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting”, which opened in February 2024 at the Iziko Museums of South Africa. The exhibition showcases Esther Mahlangu's more than 50-year career and her rise as a contemporary artist, a journey that has earned her global recognition. As part of the show, Mahlangu's BMW 525i Art Car returned to South Africa for the first time in over 30 years. The next stop on the global tour is at the Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg, opening on November 19. Moreover, her works were part of the 2024 Venice Biennale main exhibition, “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere”, curated by Adriano Pedrosa. And the latest in her remarkably versatile collaborations with the BMW Group premiered at Frieze L.A. this February: the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA, featuring her artistic language and BMW's colour-change technology.

Frieze Music
Continuing their long-term collaboration, BMW and Frieze will once again partner to present Frieze Music in London. On October 10, contemporary Indie-Pop singer Arlo Parks will perform at the legendary KOKO Theatre in Camden. The 24-year-old artist’s most recent LP “My Soft Machine” made it into the Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of 2023. Her debut album “Collapsed in Sunbeams”, released in 2021, won Parks a Mercury Prize and critical acclaim, especially for her poetic and intelligent songwriting portraying the complex reality of her contemporaries.   

Exploring the intersection of music and the arts to spark inspiring dialogues, Frieze Music provides artists the opportunity to create a unique performance, highlighting their craft through song, inspiration and conversations with fellow artists. Launched during the inaugural Frieze Los Angeles in 2019, the joint initiative between BMW and Frieze has brought together a wide range of musicians, including Moses Sumney, Caroline Polachek, Nilüfer Yanya and Loyle Carner.

To visit the BMW Lounge, please note that entrance tickets or VIP accreditation for the VIP day on October 9 & 10 are required. Media can register for accreditation here.

BMW Lounge featuring Esther Mahlangu’s works in dialogue with the private collection of Russell Tovey
October 9-13
Frieze London
Regent’s Park

“Esther Mahlangu. To Paint is in My Heart” Book Launch
Wednesday, October 9, 3.30 – 4.00 pm
Followed by a Champagne Toast

Art Talk with Russell Tovey
Thursday, October 10, 3.00pm  

Media Accreditation and interview requests

Opening Hours
Wednesday, October 9: 11am to 7pm (invitation only)
Thursday, October 10: 11am to 7pm (invitation and preview ticket holders only 11am to 3pm, open to the public from 3pm)
Friday - Sunday, October 11-13: 11am to 7pm

The BMW Group's Cultural Engagement with exclusive updates and deeper insights into the global initiatives can be followed on Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture.

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptations have been made to cater for the UK market. 

Paris/Munich. The 20th BMW Art Car is being presented to the public for the first time today at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Designed by renowned New York-based contemporary artist Julie Mehretu, the project transforms the BMW M Hybrid V8 race car into a performative work of art, continuing a longstanding tradition of BMW Art Cars and competitive racing. Just a few weeks after its World Premiere in the French capital, the newest edition in the storied BMW Art Car collection will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“The whole BMW Art Car project is about invention, about imagination, about pushing limits of what can be possible. I don’t think of this car as something you would exhibit. I am thinking of it as something that will race in Le Mans. It’s a performative painting. My BMW Art Car was created in close collaboration with motorsport and engineering teams,” says Julie Mehretu. “The BMW Art Car is only completed once the race is over.”

The collaboration between BMW and Julie Mehretu also includes a joint commitment to a series of PanAfrican Translocal Media Workshops for filmmakers, which will tour various African cities in 2025 and 2026, and will culminate in a major exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town.

“The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of our global cultural commitment. For almost 50 years, we have been cooperating with artists who are just as fascinated by mobility and design as they are by technology and motorsports. Julie Mehretu's vision for a racing car is an extraordinarily strong contribution to our BMW Art Cars series,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “Julie Mehretu has created more than an amazing Art Car. Her ideas provided the impetus for us to expand the cultural commitment of our Art Cars to promote the creativity of young artists in Africa.”

A Performative Painting is Created.
Space, movement and energy have always been central motifs in Julie Mehretu's work. For the design of the 20th BMW Art Car, she transformed a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional representation for the first time, with which she succeeded in bringing dynamism into form. Julie Mehretu used the colour and form vocabulary of her monumental painting “Everywhen” (2021 - 2023) as a starting point for her design. The work is currently on view at the artist’s major retrospective at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice and will subsequently become part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, to which it has been gifted.

Its abstract visual form results from digitally altered photographs, which are superimposed in several layers of dot grids, neon-coloured veils and the black markings characteristic of Mehretu's work. “In the studio where I had the model of the BMW M Hybrid V8 I was just sitting in front of the painting and I thought: What would happen if this car seemed to go through that painting and becomes affected by it,” Julie Mehretu says. “The idea was to make a remix, a mash-up of the painting. I kept seeing that painting kind of dripping into the car. Even the kidneys of the car inhaled the painting.”

BMW Art Cars with Le Mans history come together at the Concorso d’Eleganza.
The fusion of image and vehicle was realised with the help of 3D mapping, with which the motif was transferred to the contours of the vehicle. The elaborate foiling allows for the fully designed BMW M Hybrid V8 to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. BMW Motorsport drivers Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), Robin Frijns (NED) and René Rast (GER) will enter the 20th BMW Art Car with starting number 20 at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 15 June. Like them, Julie Mehretu is also eagerly awaiting the race: “I went to see the BMW M Hybrid V8 race in Daytona, and this experience was overwhelming. Designers, engineers, aerodynamicists and so many other creative minds are working on taking this vehicle to its extreme. When it goes out on the racetrack now, so many dreams will be fulfilled.”

Leading up to race day, Julie Mehretu's BMW Art Car will make an appearance at the Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este in Lake Como on its way to Le Mans. As part of the exhibition for historic vehicles organised by the BMW Group and the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este, Julie Mehretu herself will present the 20th edition of the BMW Art Car Collection. It will be featured on the grounds of the Villa Erba together with the BMW Art Cars by Alexander Calder (1975), Frank Stella (1976), Roy Lichtenstein (1977), Andy Warhol (1979), Jenny Holzer (1999) and Jeff Koons (2010), which also made their race debut at Le Mans. Julie Mehretu will discuss the creation of the 20th BMW Art Car in an artist talk with Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design, on Sunday, 26 May 2024.

Inspiration for Young Artists: PanAfrican Translocal Media Workshops.
The collaboration between BMW and Julie Mehretu was conceived from the beginning beyond the automobile. It will culminate after the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a project for emerging artists on the African continent: The PanAfrican Translocal Media Workshops. Together, the partners are focussing on the creative potential across the African continent, where the BMW Group has been making a contribution to social responsibility with educational projects for over 50 years.

Julie Mehretu and Mehret Mandefro, Emmy-nominated producer, writer and co-founder of the Realness Institute, which works to strengthen the media ecosystem in Africa, will organise workshops in various African cities and regions throughout 2025. The goal of the project is to provide a space for artists and filmmakers to collaborate and exchange ideas. These meetings will offer a forum for artists to develop new pathways towards a just civic future in their respective communities.

The PanAfrican Translocal Workshop series will visit the cities of Dakar (Senegal), Marrakech (Morocco), Kigali (Rwanda), Lagos (Nigeria) and Cape Town (South Africa). The results of the workshops will be presented together with the 20th BMW Art Car at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town in the first half of 2026.

The BMW Group is thus consistently continuing its decades-long support for film and creative talent: from the short film series ‘The Hire’ and the partnership with the Cannes International Film Festival to the acquisition of works by students from art academies in the neighbourhoods of the company’s plants worldwide.

The Artist.
Julie Mehretu is a world-renowned American painter. She was born in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, in 1970. Together with her family she moved to the U.S. at the age of seven. She lives and works in New York City and Berlin.

Mehretu’s practice in painting, drawing and printmaking engage the viewer in a dynamic visual articulation of contemporary experience, a depiction of social behavior and the psychogeography of space by exploring palimpsests of history, from geological time to a modern-day phenomenology of the social.

Mehretu received her Bachelor’s Degree from the Kalamazoo College in Michigan, spent a year abroad at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, and completed her Master's degree of Fine Art with honors from The Rhode Island School of Design in 1997. Mehretu has received numerous awards, including the The MacArthur Award (2005), The Berlin Prize: Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship at The American Academy in Berlin (2007) and the U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts Award (2015). A mid-career survey of Mehretu's work recently toured at LACMA (Los Angeles), High Museum (Atlanta) The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) and The Walker Museum of Art (Minneapolis) from 2019 to 2023. Her largest European solo exhibition to date entitled “Ensemble” opened March 17, 2024 at Palazzo Grassi in Venice.

Mehretu is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and The National Academy of Design. Her global representative is Marian Goodman Gallery. She also exhibits with White Cube, London, and Carlier Gebauer, Berlin.

Statement from the Jury for the 20th BMW Art Car.
Julie Mehretu was unanimously selected in 2018 by a jury of high-ranking representatives of the international art world to design the 20th BMW Art Car. The panel includes renowned curators and museum directors from various countries, including Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town; Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries, London; and Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director and Chief Curator, High Line Art, New York.

On the occasion of the World Premiere of the BMW Art Car designed by Julie Mehretu in Paris, the jury members published the following statement: "We are thrilled with Julie's BMW Art Car! Okwui Enwezor had already coined the phrase ‘Dynamism in Form’ during our jury session and nothing applies better to her BMW M Hybrid V8 race car. Julie’s first three-dimensional work combines her aesthetics and formal language with the idea of the glitch and the blur, turning speed into a visceral experience. This energetic space is as fierce and competitive in racing as it is ambitious as a creative playground of the imagination. It not only pays homage to the art cars of Jenny Holzer and Frank Stella, but also spins a visual web from Mad Max to graffiti and street art that is unique within the series of BMW Art Cars."

The BMW M Hybrid V8.
The canvas for the 20th BMW Art Car is the BMW M Hybrid V8. The new race car from BMW M GmbH features a hybrid electric drivetrain system with approximately 640 hp, powered by a 4.0-litre V8 engine supported by an electric motor (top speed: up to 345 km/h or 215 mph, depending on the race track layout).

During this year’s official FIA World Endurance Championship races, the BMW M Hybrid V8 will take on high-calibre competition in the Hypercars category. The car will also compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the first BMW M Motorsport prototype to do so since the BMW V12 LMR, which won the classic race in 1999.

The BMW Art Car Collection.
Renowned artists from all over the world have participated in the BMW Art Car program since 1975. The initiative came from the French racing driver and art lover Hervé Poulain, who, together with the then BMW Head of Motorsport Jochen Neerpasch, asked his artist friend Alexander Calder to paint a car. The result was a BMW 3.0 CSL, which competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975 and became a crowd favourite.

This was the birth of the BMW Art Car Collection. In the years that followed, renowned artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Ólafur Elíasson and Jeff Koons enriched the collection with further BMW Art Cars, each in their own individual style. Most recently, the Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei and American conceptual artist John Baldessari each presented a BMW Art Car based on the BMW M6 GT3 and GTLM respectively in 2016 and 2017. The BMW Art Cars are not only shown at their home, the BMW Museum in Munich, but are also on tour around the world as part of international exhibitions.

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptations have been made to cater for the UK market.

Munich/Los Angeles. The BMW Group presents a fusion of art and innovation at the Frieze Los Angeles art fair in the form of the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA. The one-of-a-kind vehicle combines colour-change technology developed by BMW with the artistic language of South African artist Esther Mahlangu. The designer piece, with sections of attached film that can be electronically animated, embodies the latest development in colour-change technology for vehicle surfaces in cooperation with E Ink. The BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA celebrates its world premiere at the fair opening on 29 February. The contemporary tribute recalls the BMW Art Car designed by Mahlangu in 1991. “The BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA honours the history of the BMW brand and continues the story of our global cultural engagement in a unique way. It combines art and design through progressive technology. Here, technology itself becomes art,” says Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design.

In 1991, Mahlangu designed the 12th BMW Art Car, based on a BMW 525i – becoming the first woman and first African artist to do so. “Her art inspired me years ago, back when the concept of colour change on a car was just an idea in my head,” says Stella Clarke, Research Engineer Open Innovations at the BMW Group. „Now, being able to realise this idea, and work with Esther Mahlangu, is absolutely surreal.” The 88-year-old artist’s signature colours and geometric patterns are perfect for bringing the innovative Flow technology to life in the BMW i5. The versatility of the electrophoretic colour changes makes the fully-electric sedan a dynamic work of art. “It is fascinating to me to see how modern technology can expand my art and make it accessible to a completely new audience,” says Mahlangu.

Mahlangu’s art meets cutting-edge technology.
In the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA, which is named after Mahlangu’s first son, sections of film that can be electronically animated are applied, with two strips each across the roof, bonnet and rear section, as well as the vehicle’s sides. Like an e-book reader, there are several million microcapsules in each E Ink film. The structure and arrangement of the colour particles they contain can be changed by applying an electric voltage. This allows the typical colours and patterns of Mahlangu’s art to be generated in constantly changing compositions.

The animations are also accompanied by an equally extraordinary sound, specially composed by Renzo Vitale, the BMW Group's Creative Director, Sound, for the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA. To combine the soundscape of the BMW brand with that of the South African Ndebele culture, Vitale used sequences from Mahlangu’s voice, as well as the sound of the feather brushes she used for painting. These were combined with sounds produced by the colour pencils employed in the BMW design studio and the acoustic signal heard as feedback when operating the BMW i5’s touch display. This created a sound mix that starts off softly at the beginning of each colour change and increases in intensity as the animation progresses.

To accurately recreate every detail of the complex ornamentation, the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA has been fitted with 1,349 sections of film, each of which can be individually controlled. The laser cutting process used to trim the film and the electronic control design were developed in partnership with E Ink. The adaptation of the technology for curved surfaces, as well as the programmed animations, are all BMW Group in-house developments.

Overall, colour-change technology is developing rapidly. The BMW iX Flow featuring E Ink presented in 2022 had the ability to switch from white to black at the push of a button. This was followed just one year later by the first multi-coloured implementation. The 240 sections of film applied to BMW i Vision Dee were able to display up to 32 colours. This latest phase of development now enables even more colours and patterns. At the same time, the sections of the film are more robust – which could make potential future series production easier. However, for the time being, the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA will remain one of a kind.

Tribute to a pioneering artist and her work.
As a globally respected artist, Esther Mahlangu is known for her Ndebele paintings, whose ornamentation originally symbolised major events or festive occasions. Mahlangu separated the designs from their original meaning and transferred them for the first time to canvas, carpets and everyday objects, thus preserving them for the future. The BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA is now reinterpreting this artistic language.

In presenting this designer car at Frieze Los Angeles, BMW continues its long-standing cooperation with the renowned art fair. At the same time, the BMW Art Car that formed the basis for this tribute will also be on display in South Africa for the first time in over 30 years as part of the exhibition hosted by the Iziko Museums of South Africa and the BMW Group in Cape Town “Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting”: Esther Mahlangu. A Retrospective. The exhibition, which runs until 11 August 2024, honours the life’s work of one of South Africa’s most influential artists and cultural ambassadors.

In Los Angeles, BMW will once again be presenting Frieze Music in collaboration with Frieze. Since 2019, the joint initiative between the two partners has brought together a large group of musicians at the intersection of music and art. The event’s return to Los Angeles will be celebrated on 29 February with a live performance by Sudan Archives at the Hammer Museum.

"WE COLLIDE" has been named the winning film of the BMW Filmmaking Challenge in partnership with the BFI. Revealed at the Closing Night of the 67th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express it premiered alongside Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s, ‘The Kitchen’, ahead of its release into UK cinemas and on Netflix.

Praised by judges; Ncuti Gatwa, Terri White, and Asif Kapadia for its “genius use of the ultra-wide 31.3-inch aspect ratio inspired by the rear passenger screen of the new electric BMW i7.” The winning short, written and directed by Jason Bradbury and produced by Cheri Darbon, was described as “pushing creative boundaries, while highlighting stories and characters underserved on screen with heart and tenderness.”

The filmmakers were tasked with bringing their unique stories to life in just 90 seconds, through their own creative interpretation of the theme "Evolving Perspectives”. Five shortlisted teams received a £10,000 production budget, access to 8K camera technology, support from the BFI through Executive Producer Caragh Davison and mentorship from Michaela Coel.

Embodying the spirit of queercore the winner “WE COLLIDE” is a visceral, immersive exploration of the power of the mosh pit and finding romance in the most unlikely of places, a bold interpretation of “Evolving Perspective”. The remarkable film was the unanimous winner, selected by a judging panel, all revered as industry game changers in their respective fields.

In a collaborative statement, the judges lauded the filmmakers' creativity, stating: “For us, it was unanimous: we were blown away by this film that illustrates the medium of short film, yet it could easily transition into a feature film. In just 90 seconds, this filmmaking team crafted a world filled with specificity, told a compelling story, and took us on an emotional character journey. It was brilliantly cast, confidently scripted, shot, and directed. The impactful ‘collision’ (enhanced by brilliant sound design) gave it both narrative function and cinematic intent.”

Amidst the backdrop of an evolving film industry navigating transformative challenges, Ncuti Gatwa, an actor known for his roles in Barbie and Sex Education, stated, “The film is an artistic force of nature. Every decision in the filmmaking process was filled with intent and served the narrative of the story. I knew watching the winning film that this was made by a filmmaking team that we will undoubtedly be seeing more of in the future.”

Known for his work on acclaimed documentaries, fiction films and immersive work, Asif Kapadia, Oscar® award-winning director and producer, shared his insights, “I was looking for a film that left me eager to watch it again, one that left me craving more. In 'WE COLLIDE’, there is a standout moment when the two stories and characters seamlessly merge into one—a poignant and pioneering, visually striking cinematic moment that utilises the ultrawide format inspired by the BMW i7 rear theatre screen with perfect motive.”

Terri White, renowned film journalist turned screenwriter, emphasised the importance of creating equal opportunities in the film industry “Equity of opportunity, where talent is the defining factor, is about truly creating a level playing field where possible. This challenge provided the budget, equipment, and mentorship from one of the finest actors and writers working today, bringing fresh talent to the forefront. When judging or watching any film, it may start with the eyes and ears, but it always ends up, for me, in the belly. 'WE COLLIDE' made me feel an entire raft of emotions in just 90 seconds - it took me on an entire journey. The talent we’ve experienced is insane.”

'BLADES,' directed by Christopher Chuky and produced by Tony Longe,with a script by Eno Mfon, also received a special mention. The judges described it as “a stunning film that subverts stereotypes often seen on screen, showcasing the power of self-expression and the beauty and camaraderie in friendship.”

Michaela Coel, mentor to all the shortlisted filmmakers, expressed her pride in being part of the journey with exceptional talents, stating, "It’s been an honour – my role was to encourage and push them towards the brave act of trusting their instinct; it’s important for the industry to believe that any world or culture you don’t understand is by default incredibly interesting and worth investing in with development.

The jury had an impossible task on their hands. I was incredibly impressed by the calibre and originality of the shortlisted filmmakers. Their ability to adapt to the width of the screen, and to address any production problems they had was testimony to how much they’ve learned in their careers thus far. I have always championed raw talent, and platforms such as the BMW Filmmaking Challenge in partnership with the BFI are how we discover truly shining stars in the cinematic firmament.”

The challenge set out to recruit and support aspiring filmmakers providing them with the tools and an authoritative platform to develop their careers, exploring fresh perspectives in the film industry. All five shortlisted films ‘BLADES’, ‘DAYTIMERS’, ‘RICE BALL’, ‘HEN DO” and ‘WE COLLIDE’ are available for viewing on BFI Player (https://player.bfi.org.uk), providing audiences with the opportunity to experience these ground-breaking works of cinema.

The BMW Filmmaking Challenge provides a lifeline to new talent, recognised by the sheer volume of entries received in its debut year; sharing her excitement about the competition and its profound impact, Mia Bays, Director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, states, "We have been delighted by how successful the collaboration with BMW and the inimitable Michaela Coel has been on this new Filmmaking Challenge, offering a unique opportunity to support emerging filmmakers and the development of their craft. The creativity and filmmaking skills displayed in the five final films, and the ultimate winner, is testament to the huge amount of talent present in the UK.”

The concept of pushing boundaries is not a new one for BMW. Aside from the automotive and technological world: the brand has an extensive history of supporting the arts and nurturing breakthrough talent through initiatives like BMW Play Next and its longstanding partnership with Frieze.

For more information about the BMW Filmmaking Challenge and the BFI London Film Festival, please visit www.bfi.org.uk/lff and www.bmw.co.uk/filmmakingchallenge.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

The five shortlisted BMW Filmmaking Challenge teams included:

“BLADES”
A group of young black boys run into a building. One of them is about to do the unimaginable...

• Christopher Chuky, Director: Award-winning director of short films, theatre, and music videos
• Tony Longe, Producer: Freelance creative producer with a focus on film and promos who has worked in the screen industries
• Eno Mfon, Writer: Screenwriter, playwright, and performer with a focus on political, honest and human works

“DAYTIMERS”
An insight into Daytimers, the South Asian DJ collective that is breaking new ground in Britain.

• Tulsi Shivaan, Director and Writer: Writer and director with experience in short films, film festival circuits and a background in theatre and art
• Eliza Lewis, Producer: Producer and actor with production experience in music promos, commercials, and short films
  
  

“RICE BALL”
Told through animation, a young Taiwanese schoolkid is afraid to bring her lunch to school out of fear of being ridiculed for being different.

• Kristina Pringle, Director and Writer: A Taiwanese writer and director residing in London with experience in both narrative projects and commercials
• Samantha Locock, Producer: Freelance producer on short-form narrative and a production coordinator on commercials
• Harry Shaw, Producer: Award-winning producer
• Sophie Neophyto , Producer
  
  

“HEN DO”
En route to her hen weekend, bride-to-be Faye kills the vibe with a bombshell confession.

• Alia Ghafar, Director and Writer: Glasgow-based writer and director of short films which have screened widely at film festivals, currently developing her debut feature
• Misha McCullagh, Producer: Scottish producer with interdisciplinary experience in the creative industries
  
  

“WE COLLIDE”
A queercore romance - a visceral and immersive exploration of the power of the mosh pit and finding love in the most unlikely of places.

• Jason Bradbury, Director and Writer: Writer and director exploring the themes of home, memory and the search for belonging for LGBTQI+ people, currently developing his debut feature
• Cheri Darbon, Producer: Freelance producer with a focus on internationally appealing genre films and television

The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production network comprises over 30 production sites worldwide; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2022, the BMW Group sold nearly 2.4 million passenger vehicles and more than 202,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2022 was € 23.5 billion on revenues amounting to € 142.6 billion. As of 31 December 2022, the BMW Group had a workforce of 149,475 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company set the course for the future at an early stage and consistently makes sustainability and efficient resource management central to its strategic direction, from the supply chain through production to the end of the use phase of all products.

www.bmwgroup.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BMWGroup
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMWGroup
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupView
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmwgroup
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptations have been made to cater for the UK market.

Munich/London. For the seventh consecutive year, Frieze and BMW continue their long-term partnership with the art initiative BMW Open Work. French artist Sara Sadik worked closely with BMW to present “LA POTION (EH)” - a video and gaming experience, using BMW’s My Modes and the new AirConsole technology of the BMW i5 as a playing device. Both works will premiere at KOKO inside the BMW Open Work Lounge during Frieze London, which runs October 11-15, 2023. In celebration of their collaboration, Frieze and BMW proudly announce London-based musician Loyle Carner as this year's Frieze Music performer.

BMW Open Work is a joint initiative between Frieze and BMW, bringing together art, innovation, technology and design in a pioneering multi-platform format. Curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini, BMW Open Work invites an artist to develop an ambitious project utilising BMW technology and design to pursue their practice in new directions. This year, the invited artist is Marseille-based Sara Sadik, whose practice lies halfway between fiction and documentary. Her work, be it video or performance, is inspired by video games, anime, science-fiction as well as French rap, and puts forward characters facing challenges and striving to achieve moral and physical transformation through initiatory stories.

Sara Sadik, says: “For my BMW Open Work 2023 commission I was interested in creating a work that could have transformational qualities for its viewers. I chose the title ‘LA POTION (EH)’ to hint at a tangible emotional metamorphosis. Inspired by a close dialogue with the BMW gaming (Air Console) and My Modes teams, I decided to see the BMW i5 as a character, the Avatar Neregy exploring different imaginary worlds both in the video game and in the video. It is also extremely exciting for me to build for the first time a work that can be seen by the general public during Frieze Week on the outside of KOKO as well as played exclusively in the car.”

Conceived as part of BMW Open Work 2023, “LA POTION (EH)” continues the artist’s interest in the possibilities of computer-generated scenarios and her investigation into the changing emotional states of young male characters. The project unfolds as an interactive video game, devised to be played exclusively in the new, fully electric BMW i5 as well as a video installation presented both on the public-facing terrace of KOKO and inside the BMW Lounge. Guided by the Avatar Neregy, a virtually alienated character who struggles to connect with people, the viewer follows him across different worlds, tasks, and challenges to complete his quest for psychological healing and transformation.

“I am delighted that our successful partnership with Frieze continues. BMW’s commitment to contemporary art is an integral part of our worldwide cultural engagement which has been ongoing for over 50 years. I am pleased that so many will get to experience Sara Sadik’s ‘BMW Open Work’, which has been specially conceived for the fully electric BMW i5”, says Christopher Brownridge, Chief Executive Officer, BMW Group UK and Ireland.

Inspired by dialogues with the gaming team (AirConsole) as well as the My Modes – which allows the driver to set the car to their mood – Sadik has imagined the new BMW i5 as a character, a unique device that invites the public to delve into their emotions. Turning the car, for the first time in BMW Open Work history, into a special experiential device through the immersive activation of light and sound features and embracing the topics of human centricity and digitalization, the BMW i5 becomes a sentient being, a journey companion.

“Working with an exciting and visionary artist such as Sara Sadik on this project has brought BMW Open Work to a new frontier.  Her new video and playable game LA POTION (EH) was spurred from an intense collaboration with BMW experts and imagines, for the first time, the BMW i5 as a guiding character, a device and an exhibition venue. I can’t wait to let the work guide us through imaginary worlds and challenges to explore the changing emotional states of users/players and drivers alike”, explains Attilia Fattori Franchini, Curator, BMW Open Work.

Frieze Music
In celebration of their long-term collaboration, BMW partners with Frieze to present Frieze Music in London again. On October 12, Mercury Music Prize-nominated artist Loyle Carner will perform at the legendary KOKO Theatre. Loyle Carner is an English Hip-Hop musician celebrated for his sophisticated style. He has received three Brit Award nominations for British Breakthrough Act (2018), British Male Solo Artist (2018) and British Urban Act (2023). In addition, Keyrah will start with a DJ set for an evening celebrating 20 years of Frieze London.

Exploring the intersection of music and the arts to spark inspiring dialogues, Frieze Music provides artists the opportunity to create a unique performance, highlighting their craft through song, inspiration and conversations with fellow artists. Launched during the inaugural Frieze Los Angeles in 2019, the joint initiative between BMW and Frieze has brought together a wide range of musicians.

Emily Glazebrook, Commercial Director, Frieze, says:“We are delighted to continue our partnership with BMW, highlighting Frieze's commitment to exploring the possibilities of art, design, and technology. Since 2017, BMW has consistently amplified the voices of leading and emerging international artists and musicians through our joint initiatives, both at the fair and across the city. We eagerly anticipate this year's collaborations for Frieze London and Frieze Masters, with Sara Sadik leading BMW Open Work and Loyle Carner taking centre stage with Frieze Music, as we celebrate Frieze London's 20th Anniversary and the thriving creative spirit of the capital.”

Further information can be found at https://frieze.com/bmw-open-work and https://www.frieze.com/tags/frieze-music

The BMW Group's Cultural Engagement, with exclusive updates and deeper insights into its global initiatives can be followed on Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture.

The BMW Open Work Lounge and “LA POTION (EH)” can be explored at KOKO by Frieze ticket holders and members of The House of KOKO:

Wednesday, October 11, 2023: 11am to 7pm
Thursday, October 12 – Sunday, October 15, 2023: 10am – 7pm

Location
The Penthouse
The House of KOKO
London 
NW1 7RE

• In the latest episode of BMW Play Next, Coldplay’s Will Champion and Guy Berryman engage in a dynamic conversation with Edith Bowman, delving into the intricate innovations underpinning their ground-breaking global tour
• The band elucidates how cutting-edge technology plays a pivotal role in their journey, working in collaboration with BMW - a game-changing cooperation that is setting new industry benchmarks and a blueprint for the entire live industry
• In a compelling second interview featuring breakout pop and rock ensemble Porij, lead vocalists Egg and Tommy offer unreserved insight into their ascent as a breakthrough act, the pivotal connections they’ve forged, and their experience sharing the stage with Coldplay

The acclaimed hit music discovery podcast, BMW Play Next, hosted by Edith Bowman is making an exciting return. Renowned for its reputation as a space for pioneering artistry and ground-breaking music from the next generation of talent, the latest episode, set to air on 20 September, brings together British rock sensation Coldplay and genre-splicing Manchester fourpiece, Porij and a hand-picked playlist of emerging hot-off-the-press tracks.

Bowman leads an insightful conversation with Will Champion and Guy Berryman around the ever-evolving industry landscape and the modern-day challenges confronting artists, uncovering the core principles of their approach - environmental impact and generation accessibility. Talking about their proudest achievements to date, Champion says, "We're running shows completely from a battery now, so we're not using any outside power. They're re-purposed BMW car batteries, it's something that's not been done before."

In 2021, BMW contributed to the creation of the world’s first-ever mobile, rechargeable show battery for the band’s ‘Music of The Spheres World Tour’. Supporting the British band with its ambition to become more sustainable - a game-changing cooperation that is setting new industry benchmarks and blueprint for the entire live industry - recyclable BMW i3 batteries now provide the necessary super low-emission, electric power to replace the usual diesel and petrol generators. This results in a significant reduction of the carbon footprint of many of the band’s live performances, contributing to one of the greenest tours in music history.

“The power is recharged using a range of renewable sources including solar installations, a kinetic stadium floor and power bikes, that harness the collective power of the fans themselves,” adds Champion. The BMW i3 batteries were the first in the worldwide automotive industry suitable for second-life use without additional processing; a technology that is an essential part of the BMW Group’s vision of sustainability and circular economy.

With an unyielding commitment to sustainability and approaching a 50% reduction in carbon production on their tour, Berryman highlights the in-person role longstanding team members play in the band's vision and innovation, adding “Misty Buckley and Phil Harvey are instrumental in the design and shape, and Chris as well – certainly when it comes to the physical structure’. Accessibility and innovation have remained paramount since the band’s inception in 1997. Steps include giving deaf and hard-of-hearing fans the chance to experience their music at live gigs by giving out Subpacs at shows. Subpacs are wearable bass-responsive amp and speaker systems.

Speaking of sparking nostalgia and championing breakthrough talent, Berryman reflects “There’s a nice part of the show where we play on what we call the C-stage. It’s just bass, guitar and a piano – and we always talk as a band before we perform a song about how this is how we started in Jonny’s bedroom.” This reality has truly materialised for emerging pop and rock Manchester four-piece, Porij.

In a second long-form interview, Bowman explores Porij’s unique perspective on dancefloor culture. Vocalists, Eggy and Tommy, openly express the need for a transformative shift in the music industry's infrastructure to enable emerging artists to adopt more environmentally friendly practices and be seen. Eggy candidly addresses the challenges their band has encountered, and she offers insights into the intriguing blend of "jazz, post-punk" sounds that define their upcoming album.

From being chosen to support Coldplay in 2022 to touring the UK, they expand on the diverse genre influences and experiences that have shaped them as musicians today, Tommy adding "Manchester offers a rich tapestry of musical inspiration, especially when you're finding your feet and meeting with others starting out. It’s been a priceless network.”

Listen and visit previous episodes of BMW Play Next at https://podfollow.com/play-next

ENDS

BMW Play Next

Renowned as a hub for pioneering artistry and groundbreaking music from the next generation of talent, the BMW Play Next podcast has showcased prominent breakthrough acts and industry figureheads. A lineup that has included Mercury prize-winning British band Wolf Alice, Emily Eavis, co-organiser of Glastonbury, and rising stars including Attawalpa, a British Peruvian artist, and the talented songstress Nao. Hosted by Edith Bowman, the podcast not only celebrates up-and-coming artists but also highlights industry insights and demonstrated technological strides that are reshaping the landscape of music.

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production network comprises over 30 production sites worldwide; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2022, the BMW Group sold nearly 2.4 million passenger vehicles and more than 202,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2022 was € 23.5 billion on revenues amounting to € 142.6 billion. As of 31 December 2022, the BMW Group had a workforce of 149,475 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company set the course for the future at an early stage and consistently makes sustainability and efficient resource management central to its strategic direction, from the supply chain through production to the end of the use phase of all products.

www.bmwgroup.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BMWGroup
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMWGroup
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupView
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmwgroup
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptations have been made to cater for the UK market.

BMW and Frieze continue their long-term partnership with BMW Open Work by Frieze, the annual major art initiative. In 2023, Marseille-based artist Sara Sadik will debut a film and video game conceived for the new BMW i5 at KOKO in Camden Town. The pioneering multi-platform format, curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini is bringing together art, technology and design.

Both works will premiere during Frieze London, which runs October 11-15, 2023. This year the fair celebrates its 20th anniversary with its most international edition to date and an extensive programme of cultural collaborations and events, including the BMW Open Work format.

Attilia Fattori Franchini (Curator, BMW Open Work) said: “I couldn’t be more excited to work with Sara Sadik, whose practice carefully investigates and mines the intersection of art, gaming and digital technology. Sadik’s project for BMW Open Work 2023 - a video game specially conceived for the BMW i5, using the car as a unique experiential device, and a film to play in the BMW lounge - brings the program in a wholly new direction. I can’t wait for this project to take over the spaces of KOKO, reinforcing Frieze and BMW’s joint commitment to experimental artistic practices.”

Sadik’s video and performance practice lies halfway between fiction and documentary. Drawing on video games, anime, science fiction and French rap, the artist creates initiatory stories that centre characters striving to achieve moral and physical transformation. Her commission at Frieze London comprises an interactive playable game, conceived specifically for the new, fully electric BMW i5 in collaboration with BMW Gaming and Innovation Lab experts, as well as a video presented both on the exterior of KOKO and in the BMW Lounge. BMW i5 designers will support Sadik in the technical conception of the game and extending the gaming experience in the car through sound and light.

Titled LA POTION (EH), Sadik’s commission utilises computer-generated scenarios to investigate the changing emotional states of young male characters. Her world-building renders their emotions visible while investigating the construction and performance of masculinity, its ethical and moral codes, and what it reveals about societal structures more broadly.

Sadik succeeds Nikita Gale (2022), Madeline Hollander (2020-21), Camille Blatrix (2019), Sam Lewitt (2018) and Olivia Erlanger (2017) as the artist chosen for the BMW Open Work initiative.

BMW Open Work by Frieze
BMW Open Work by Frieze is an annual joint initiative that brings together art, technology and design in a pioneering multi-platform format. Each year since 2017, BMW Open Work by Frieze invites an artist to create a visionary project inspired by technology, engineering prowess and BMW Design that explores current and future technologies as a vehicle for innovation and artistic experimentation.

Further information can be found at https://www.frieze.com/bmw-open-work

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptations have been made to cater for the UK market.

Munich/New York. BMW announced a collaboration today at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City with internationally renowned New York-based artist Julie Mehretu to create the 20th BMW Art Car. Mehretu was unanimously chosen by an international jury of museum directors and curators, and will be given total creative freedom to design the next instalment in BMW’s legendary collection of ”rolling sculptures”. BMW will enter Mehretu’s BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car in the 24 Hour race of Le Mans in June 2024. This continues an almost 50-year tradition that has delighted not only motorsport enthusiasts but anyone into design or the arts, technology and mobility. Since 1975, artists such as Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, Cao Fei, and John Baldessari have created racing cars for BMW.

“I've loved cars for most of my life, as toys, as objects, as possibilities. It is from that space that I'm really excited to be working on the next BMW Art Car more than anything,” stated Julie Mehretu. “The thrill of the speed, the 24 Hour race of Le Mans and what is possible to invent in hybrid and fully electric vehicles as future modes of play and pushing ahead into new terrains of transportation and motorsports.”

”The BMW Art Car Collection is a central element of our global cultural commitment, which has been in place for more than 50 years," said Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources and Real Estate, at the presentation in New York. ”The combination of technology and art, of design and motorsport sparks a timeless fascination. I have admired Julie Mehretu's work for many years. I am particularly pleased that our cooperation will have a lasting cultural impact beyond the vehicle she has designed, especially in Africa.”

An artistic concept beyond the car: Translocal Media Workshop Series in 2025
The collaboration between BMW and Julie Mehretu will not only leave its mark on the Le Mans racetrack.

There are far and few spaces on the continent of Africa where artists can convene, exchange, and experiment in ways that foster collaboration across local contexts. Julie Mehretu and Mehret Mandefro, Emmy-nominated producer, writer and co-founder of the Realness Institute which aims to strengthen the media ecosystem across Africa, will host a series of gatherings in eight African cities over the course of nine months to open up space for artists to meet, exchange, and collaborate in translocal ways. These workshops have the sole intention of opening up a forum for the artists to consider new pathways to implementing just civic futures in their respective local communities and harness the power of the translocal collective.

The methodology of these workshops is based on the Exodus Media Workshop (EMW) which is an arts education laboratory initiated by Denniston Hill that focuses on the inter-dependent inventions of image making and representation in the media. The workshop begins from the shared intention that we must disentangle self-being from its mediated depiction, and that our identities can be reclaimed and reshaped by our own standards.

The outcome and results of the workshops will be presented together with the 20th BMW Art Car at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town in 2025.

The artist.
Julie Mehretu was born in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, in 1970. Together with her family she moved to the USA at the age of seven. She received her B.A. from Kalamazoo College, Michigan, graduated from The Rhode Island School of Design with a Masters of Fine Arts degree in 1997, and also spent a year studying at Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar Senegal. In exploring palimpsests of history, from geological time to a modern-day phenomenology of the social, her paintings, prints and drawings engage the viewer in a dynamic visual articulation of contemporary experience, a depiction of social behavior and the psychogeography of space. 

Mehretu has been running a studio in New York since 1999. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the MacArthur Award and the US Department of State Medal of Arts Award. A representative survey of her work has been exhibited at LACMA (Los Angeles), the High Museum (Atlanta), the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), and the Walker Museum of Art (Minneapolis) from 2019 to 2023. In 2021, Julie Mehretu became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Design.

Julie Mehretu is represented globally by Marian Goodman Gallery, and also exhibits with White Cube, London, and Carlier Gebauer, Berlin.

Statements of the jury. Unanimous nomination.
Julie Mehretu was unanimously chosen to design the 20^th BMW Art Car in 2018 by an international jury from the art world with an outstanding reputation based on their experience and expertise in leading positions at major museums and galleries. It is composed of the following personalities:

• Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director and Chief Curator, High Line Art, New York
• Richard Armstrong, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, New York
• Anton Belov, Director, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow
• Anita Dube, artist and curator Kochi-Muziris-Biennale 2018
• Yilmaz Dziewior, Director, Museum Ludwig, Cologne
• Okwui Enwezor (1963 – 2019), former Director, Haus der Kunst, Munich 
• Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director, New Museum, New York
• Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
• Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town
• Matthias Mühling, Director, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich
• Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries, London
• Hervé Poulain, Initiator BMW Art Car Collection and CEO Artcurial
• Stephanie Rosenthal, Director, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago:
“Julie Mehretu is the perfect artist for this early 21st century. To merge her work with the shape and form of a speeding vehicle is really an alignment of perfection. For years, Julie has painted speed and for a long time worked very successfully at scale. This means to me that she will be able to create a form that you can see from a distance because with many of her large commissions, you need to back up to really enjoy them. She has an understanding of space and speed that is a perfect partner to the BMW Art Car.”

Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town:
“I think that Julie Mehretu’s practice combines a sprawling visuality with a political background. She will be the perfect artist to really moderate this tension about race, technology, car, velocity and bring it into a form that is legible for the wider public.”

Okwui Enwezor (1963 - 2019), former Director, Haus der Kunst, Munich:
“Julie Mehretu’s work incapsulates different questions of movement. She expresses dynamism within a form. It is a very clear and sound understanding of how the object acts in space. And I think this really makes it a very exciting proposition to have an artist of her calibre who has the long-standing experience to take on this project.”

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries, London:
“Julie Mehretu creates paintings which very often go beyond the canvas. Her practice is very interdisciplinary and of course, that’s exactly what will happen with the BMW Art Car. The artists do not just develop ideas alone in their studio, but in dialogue with many people in the company and particularly with the engineers, the inventors and the designers.”

Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director and Chief Curator, High Line Art, New York:
“I think Julie is a wonderful artist who has been able to bring the three-dimensionality of our reality into the two-dimensionality of paintings and flat surfaces. She is someone that has been looking at our cities, the speed of our culture, vectors and velocity and these are all themes that resonate with the BMW Art Car. Her project for the BMW Art Car will be compelling and bring together all these aspects into this wonderful platform.”

Stephanie Rosenthal, Director, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi:
“Julie Mehretu is mainly known for large-scale two-dimensional works which are based on speed, space, creating and imagining space. And so now working with the BMW Art Car really will extend, I think, her experience of working with a three-dimensional object and kind of implementing her idea of space, and also probably become a form of futurist architecture exploring technology. And, therefore, I think she’s a brilliant pick.”

The BMW M Hybrid V8.
The canvas for the 20th BMW Art Car is the BMW M Hybrid V8. BMW M GmbH's new competition car in endurance racing features a hybrid drive system with around 640 hp, whose 4.0-liter V8 engine is supported by an electric motor (max speed: up to 345 kph/215 mph, depending on track layout). This makes the prototype race car, which weighs just 1,030 kilograms, the poster child for typical M performance and the fascination with electrified drives.

The BMW M Hybrid V8 is currently competing successfully in the GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) class of the North American IMSA endurance racing series. BMW M Motorsport will also return to the FIA World Endurance Championship in the 2024 season. In the races for the official FIA World Endurance Championship, the BMW M Hybrid V8 will face top-class competition in the Hypercars category. This means that the BMW M Hybrid V8 will also be competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the first BMW M Motorsport prototype since the BMW V12 LMR won the classic in 1999.

The BMW Art Car Collection.
Since 1975, renowned artists from all over the world have been designing BMW Art Cars. The initiative came from French racing driver and art lover Hervé Poulain, who, in collaboration with then Head of BMW Motorsport Jochen Neerpasch, asked his artist friend Alexander Calder to paint an automobile. The result was a BMW 3.0 CSL that competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975, where it became a crowd favorite. This was the birth of the BMW Art Car Collection.

In the years that followed, renowned artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Ólafur Elíasson and Jeff Koons added further BMW Art Cars to the collection, each in their own individual style. Most recently, Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei and American John Baldessari each presented a BMW Art Car based on the BMW M6 GT3 in 2016 and 2017. The BMW Art Cars are not only shown at their home, the BMW Museum in Munich, but also travel around the world as part of international exhibitions.

London/Munich. For the sixth consecutive year, Frieze and BMW continue their long-term partnership with the art initiative BMW Open Work by Frieze. Artist Nikita Gale worked with BMW i7 designers to present the site-specific installation “63/22” in the BMW Lounge. Featuring more than 160 of the world’s leading galleries and led by Eva Langret, the 19th edition of Frieze London takes place from October 12-16, 2022.

Curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini, BMW Open Work by Frieze invites an artist to develop an ambitious project utilising BMW design and technology to pursue their practice in innovative new directions. BMW Open Work offers artists the possibility of engaging in a rich dialogue with BMW engineers, designers, and experts from different fields to create unique artistic projects.

Investigating the politics of sound and its surrounding, Nikita Gale’s practice enquires themes of invisibility and audibility, recasting the complicated dynamic between performer and spectator. Within the work, notions are subverted and destabilized.

Nikita Gale’s interest in the history of sound continues with “63/22”, in which the artist reflects on the relationship between automotive and sound technologies, already closely associated since the 1960s. In fact, the Gibson Firebird, one of the most popular electric guitars, was designed by a car designer in 1963.

Emerging from an intense dialogue with BMW i7 designers and engineers whilst reinforcing BMW’s commitment to art and music, Gale presents for Frieze London 2022 a sculptural installation comprising of five customised electric guitars. The guitars will be named historically significant and iconic Black women guitarists: Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Barbara Lynn, Big Mama Thornton, and Joan Armatrading. Activated in the lounge through a series of live acts performed by musicians invited by Gale, the guitars will play through the BMW i7, transforming the car into a sound amp, amplifying the relationship between the car, sound technologies and creativity. 

The guitars have been created in collaboration with BMW i7 designers and realised by a UK-based luthier, Ian Malone.

Nikita Gale says: “This commission with BMW and Frieze has been an exciting opportunity to further my long-standing interest in the interconnectedness of sound, space, and social systems. Having the opportunity to work with the incredibly enthusiastic i7 designers at BMW alongside the endlessly talented luthier Ian Malone was a dream come true. I was truly thrilled by the team's excitement around creating these new electric guitar models as we collectively reflected on the parallel histories of music evolution and automotive design.“

“I couldn’t be more excited to work with a polyhedric artist such as Nikita Gale. Gale’s project ‘63/22’ expands the collaborative potentialities of the BMW Open Work commission by inviting BMW i7 designers to create five customized electric guitars. Through this invitation, Gale brings to the foreground a historical investigation of the relationship between technologies of sound and technologies of speed whilst transforming the BMW lounge into an experimental music venue. The project reenacts a productive and cultural exchange between two industries unraveling how these two fields have influenced one another in the past and continue to do so in the present”, said Attilia Fattori Franchini.

Further information can be found at https://frieze.com/bmw-open-work

Frieze Music
In celebration of their long-term collaboration, BMW partners with Frieze to present Frieze Music in London again. On October 12, Mercury Prize nominee Self Esteem will perform at the iconic KOKO Club, followed by DJ Sam Gellaitry. Doors open from 8pm, the performance will begin at 9pm.

Further Events at the BMW Lounge (Frieze London, Regent’s Park):
Wednesday, October 12
From 3pm: VIP Lounge Opening; Guitars activation and performance, Champagne Hour

Thursday, October 13
From 3pm: Guitars activation and performance, Champagne Hour, Talk between Nikita Gale x Ian Malone x BMW designers

Friday, October 14
From 3pm: Champagne Hour

Saturday, October 15
From 12pm: Nikita Gale Book Launch
From 3pm: Guitars activation and performance

Sunday, October 16
From 3pm: Champagne Hour

To register for the events, please click here.

Note: This press release is a 1:1 copy of the original issued by BMW headquarters in Germany. No adaptations have been made to cater for the UK market.

Paris. 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.

The Design Process

As part of his creative process, the artist collected images of race cars, related graphics, vibrant colors, speed and explosions. The resulting artwork of bright colors conceived by Koons is evocative of power, motion and bursting energy. Its silver interior along with the powerful exterior design, the Art Car will impart a dynamic appearance even when it’s standing still.

“These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy,” said Koons. “You can participate with it, add to it and let yourself transcend with its energy. There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car – it’s really to connect with that power”.

Koons has been in an intense collaboration with BMW’s team in Munich for months – melding his skill with sophisticated BMW engineering – to ensure that the 17th BMW Art Car will be race-ready for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Traveling back and forth to Germany many times since the February 2 announcement that Koons would create the 17th BMW Art Car, the artist has worked with the BMW engineering and design teams to conduct in-depth explorations of materials and application options that will prove crucial to optimizing both the aesthetic and aerodynamic attributes of the race car. Working with actual 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) models of the BMW M3 GT2, Koons could simulate the application of the graphic to the car’s surfaces and evaluate it from all angles.

Koons even donned a helmet and joined BMW’s Rahal Letterman Racing Team for testing in Sebring, Florida, on February 23. Koons was able to experience the M3 GT2 at race speed to further inspire his design. As Koons describes it, he witnessed “the raw unfiltered performance” of the M3 GT2 from the seat of a historic BMW M1 race car. Koons also drove a BMW M3 Coupe on the circuit to further the dynamic exercise.

Under Koons’ direct guidance and supervision, his BMW Art Car was produced in assistance with a team of BMW engineers and designers at Schmid Design, (ORT), Bavaria. The challenge to create the BMW Art Car had to do with using a light material and a design that would not interfere with the racecar's aerodynamics and weight. Timing was also an issue, as there was only a two month window between the first design sketches and the Paris world premiere. This is why digital print on car wrapping vinyl was used covered by a double clear-coating to bring out the color. To apply hundreds of dynamic lines of Koons' design onto the car, CAD designs were translated from 3D into 2D for the printing process and then painstakingly applied to the entire car as well as onto individual spare parts. Koons design incorporates many bright contrasting colors to communicate the aesthetics of power. The concept design was transformed into hard eged lines of color. Graphics of debris were added to the rear sides and back of the car to similute the power of the car. Furthermore, two graphic rings on the rear of the car represent supersonic acceleration.

Koons and BMW

The germination of Koons’ collaboration with BMW began in 2003, when he expressed his desire to create a BMW Art Car. His relationship with BMW started more than 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 one of the ideal artists to design a car that would make the world fall in love with automobiles again.

Koons’ creative process for the BMW Art Car mirrors techniques, some borrowed from transportation design and development, which he regularly employs for his artistic production. For example, in the creation of Koons’ monumental sculptures, his studio uses 3-D CAD models to evaluate the surfaces, assembles them via methods found in bike chop shops, and paints them in a manner based on sophisticated automotive painting techniques.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans race

In April 2010, BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen announced the driver line-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Andy Priaulx (GB), Dirk Müller (DE) and Dirk Werner (DE) will race the BMW Art Car #79. Jörg Müller (DE), Augusto Farfus (BR), Uwe Alzen (DE) will drive the BMW Le Mans car #78.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world’s oldest endurance race in all of sports car racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, it is organized by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and runs on a circuit containing closed public roads. The race is designed not only to test a car and driver’s ability to be quick, but also to last over a 24-hour period.

French auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulain first had the idea of asking an artist to paint the car he himself would compete with. Taking up this initiative in 1975, American artist Alexander Calder painted a BMW racing car, thus laying the foundation. The Art Car experiment was soon continued: a year later, Calder Art Car co-driver Sam Posey introduced Frank Stella to the idea of BMW Art Cars when the New York-based artist covered a BMW with his typical grid-like pattern. Stella’s work was followed by a series of celebrated pop artists: Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. Apart from Rauschenberg’s Art Car, all these took part in the Le Mans 24-hour race, some of them enjoying remarkable success.

The BMW M3 GT2

Derived from the BMW M3 high-performance sports car, the BMW M3 GT2 boasts a 4.0-liter V8 engine with a maximum output of 500 bhp, an upgraded chassis, racing-caliber brakes, and extensive use of lightweight materials.  Able to reach 100 mph in 3.4 seconds, the BMW M3 GT2 is rapidly emerging as a real first year contender at this year’s event.

For the Comeback at 24 Le Mans BMW Motorsport is supported by numerous successful partners. This is why the BMW M3 GT2 will be labeled with the logos of Castrol, Crowne Plaza, Dunlop, Randstad, Sympatex, LuK, H&R, BBS and NGK for the race on the “Circuit de la Sarthe”.

BMW Art Cars

Since 1975, artists from throughout the world have turned BMW automobiles into art signifying a particular period through the Art Car program. In 2007, the latest installment was revealed with Olafur Eliasson’s “Your mobile expectations: BMW H2R project.” 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. They have been displayed at the BMW Museum in Munich, between 2006 and 2010 and many went on a world tour throughout Asia, Russia, Africa, India, the United States and Mexico. The Koons car number, “79,” pays tribute to the 1979 Andy Warhol car. The Warhol car was assigned the number “76,” an homage to the 1976 Frank Stella car, both of which raced at Le Mans.

The home of all BMW Art Cars is the BMW Museum in Munich. Starting in September, Koons’ 17th BMW Art Car will be presented there together with some of its predecessors.

With over 100 major projects worldwide, BMW Group cultural programs have been an integral part of the company’s contributions to society for almost 40 years.  Besides contemporary art, architecture and design, classical music and jazz are key components of this engagement.

The BMW Group

The BMW Group is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 24 production facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

The BMW Group achieved a global sales volume of approximately 1.29 million automobiles and over 87,000 motorcycles for the 2009 financial year. The pre-tax profit for 2009 was euro 413 million, revenues totalled euro 50.68 billion. At 31 December 2009, the company employed a global workforce of approximately 96,000 associates. The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy. As a result of its efforts, the BMW Group has been ranked industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the last five years.

TV Footage will be available from June 2, 2010 onwards at: www.thenewsmarket.com

To see the video on the 17th BMW Art Car designed by Jeff Koons, please go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG83ETbo0xE

For questions please contact:

Thomas Girst, Spokesperson Cultural Communications

Telephone: +49 89 382 24753, Fax: +49 89 382 10881

Antonia Walther, Cultural Communications

Telephone: + 49 89 382 10422, Fax: +49 89 382 10881

www.facebook.com/bmwgroupview

Media Website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

E-mail: presse@bmw.de

Koons Reveals Preliminary Designs for the BMW M3 GT2  

New York In the spirit of Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Holzer, BMW announced today 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, 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. In another nod to tradition, Koons will present the world premiere and sign his car at Paris’ Centre Pompidou on June 1, 2010, just as Roy Lichtenstein did in 1977.

Adding to the occasion, Koons released for the first time his preliminary design concept for the car today at a press conference in New York City.  As part of his creative process, the artist collected images of race cars and graphics, vibrant colors and speed. He layered them into a digital collage depicting his sources of inspiration.  The resulting graphic conceived by Koons – evocative of power, motion and light and rendered in the artist’s signature saturated hues on a black ground set against the car’s silver interior – will impart a dynamic appearance to the race car even when it’s standing still.

“These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy,” said Koons. “You can participate with it, add to it and let yourself transcend with its energy. There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car – it’s really to connect with that power.”

Koons was joined at the press conference by President of the Centre Pompidou Alain Seban, BMW of North America President Jim O’Donnell, BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen, and BMW Le Mans driver Andy Priaulx of Great Britain.

“This is a momentum building year for us that speaks to the essence of the brand and the latest chapter of the BMW Art Car program is certainly part of this,” said O’Donnell.  “It’s an absolute delight for all of us to be working with Jeff on this program that is part of the fabric of BMW.”

World Premiere at the Centre Pompidou, Paris

Paris’ Centre Pompidou is one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions for modern and contemporary art and is where Roy Lichtenstein first unveiled and signed his car in 1977 as Jeff Koons will on June 1. Also, the Koons car number, “79,” pays tribute to the 1979 Andy Warhol car.  The Warhol car was assigned the number “76,” an homage to the 1976 Frank Stella car, both of which raced at Le Mans.  

“Ever since it was created back in 1977, the Centre Pompidou has acted as an interface, a platform of exchange between creative art and society, striving to expose the larger public to the art of our time in the firm belief that art can foster a more innovative and flexible society,” said Alain Seban, President of the Centre Pompidou.  “For this reason the Centre Pompidou is glad to join BMW’s project which, I trust, can go a long way in bringing together creation and society by inviting the great artists of our time – from Roy Lichtenstein in 1977 to Jeff Koons today – to challenge the most mythical object of our era, the car, through a unique creation.”

The Design Process

“It is a fascinating and inspiring exercise to witness an artist present his or her point of view through one of our cars. To see Jeff Koons take his unique sensibility and bring it to a BMW race car as he works with our team to translate his vision into a race-ready car is to truly watch the connection be made between technical and artistic intelligence,” said Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the Board of Management for the BMW AG with responsibility for BMW Group’s international cultural formats.

Koons has been in an intense collaboration with BMW’s team in Munich for months – melding his skill with sophisticated BMW engineering – to ensure that the 17th BMW Art Car will be race-ready for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

Traveling back and forth to Germany several times since the February 2 announcement that Koons would create the 17th BMW Art Car, the artist has worked with the BMW engineering and design teams to conduct in-depth explorations of materials and application options that will prove crucial to optimizing both the aesthetic and aerodynamic attributes of the race car.  Working with actual 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) models of the BMW M3 GT2, Koons can simulate the application of the graphic to the car’s surfaces and evaluate it from all angles. 

Koons even donned a helmet and joined BMW’s American Le Mans Series race team for testing in Sebring, Florida, on February 23.   Koons was able to experience the M3 GT2 at race speed to further inspire his design.  As Koons describes it, he witnessed “the raw unfiltered performance” of the M3 GT2 from the seat of a historic BMW M1 race car. Koons also drove a BMW M3 Coupe on the circuit to further the dynamic exercise.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans race

Today, BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen announced the driver line-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Andy Priaulx (GB), Dirk Müller (DE) and Dirk Werner (DE) will race the BMW Art Car #79.  Jörg Müller (DE), Augusto Farfus (BR), Uwe Alzen (DE) will drive the BMW Le Mans car #78.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world’s oldest endurance race in all of sports car racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France.  Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, it is organized by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and runs on a circuit containing closed public roads. The race is designed not only to test a car and driver’s ability to be quick, but also to last over a 24-hour period.

French auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulain first had the idea of asking an artist to paint the car he himself would compete with.  Taking up this initiative in 1975, American artist Alexander Calder painted a BMW racing car, thus laying the foundation.  The Art Car experiment was soon continued:  a year later, Calder Art Car co-driver Sam Posey introduced Frank Stella to the idea of BMW Art Cars when the New York-based artist covered a BMW with his typical grid-like pattern.  Stella’s work was followed by a series of celebrated pop artists:  Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg.  Apart from Rauschenberg’s Art Car, all these took part in the Le Mans 24-hour race, some of them enjoying remarkable success.

After taking a break in the 1980’s, the Art Car returned to its origins at Le Mans in 1999, when American concept artist Jenny Holzer “wrote” her truisms on a BMW V12 Le Mans race car.

The germination of Koons’ collaboration with BMW began in 2003, when he expressed his desire to create a BMW Art Car. His relationship with BMW started more than 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 one of the ideal artists to design a car that would make the world fall in love with automobiles again.

Koons’ creative process for the BMW Art Car mirrors techniques, some borrowed from transportation design and development, which he regularly employs for his artistic production.  For example, in the creation of Koons’ monumental sculptures, his studio uses 3-D CAD models to evaluate the surfaces, assembles them via methods found in bike chop shops, and paints them in a manner based on sophisticated automotive painting techniques.

“It is fitting that Jeff Koons’ car will follow in the storied tradition of the renowned artists who created the early race-inspired BMW Art Cars,” said O’Donnell.  “We look forward to BMW’s return to Le Mans – and perhaps even sharing a toast with Jeff at the finish line.”

Derived from the BMW M3 high-performance sports car, the BMW M3 GT2 boasts a 4.0-liter V8 engine with a maximum output of 500 bhp, an upgraded chassis, racing-caliber brakes, and extensive use of lightweight materials.  Able to reach 100 mph in 3.4 seconds, the BMW M3 GT2 is rapidly emerging as a real first year contender at this year’s event.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen said, “The race in Le Mans is one of the most important events in international motorsport.  This makes it the perfect stage to revive the tradition of the BMW Art Car.  Jeff Koons’ work of art will leave a lasting impression with all those who see it, even after the BMW M3 GT2 has crossed the finish line.  BMW Art Cars have often also been able to impress with their sporting achievements.  I am optimistic that this will be the case again this year.”

Beginning in September, the Koons Art Car will be on view at the BMW Museum in Munich, as part of a special exhibition commemorating the program’s 35th anniversary.

BMW Art Cars

Since 1975, artists from throughout the world have turned BMW automobiles into art signifying a particular period through the Art Car program.  In 2007, the latest installment was revealed with Olafur Eliasson’s “Your mobile expectations: BMW H2R project.” Many of these have been exhibited in renowned museums throughout the world including the Louvre, the Guggenheim Museums, and the Shanghai Art Museum.  They have been displayed at the BMW Museum in Munich, between 2006 and 2010 and many went on a world tour throughout Asia, Russia, Africa, India, the United States and Mexico.

The home of all BMW Art Cars is the BMW Museum in Munich. Starting in September, Koons’ 17th BMW Art Car will be presented there together with some of its predecessors.

With over 100 major projects worldwide, BMW Group cultural programs have been an integral part of the company’s contributions to society for almost 40 years.  Besides contemporary art, architecture and design, classical music and jazz are key components of this engagement.

For a link to photos and more information, please visit: www.bmwusanews.com/artsandculture

www.independent-collectors.com/bmwartcars

 The BMW Group

The BMW Group is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 24 production facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

The BMW Group achieved a global sales volume of approximately 1.29 million automobiles and over 87,000 motorcycles for the 2009 financial year. The pre-tax profit for 2009 was euro 413 million, revenues totalled euro 50.68 billion. At 31 December 2009, the company employed a global workforce of approximately 96,000 associates.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy. As a result of its efforts, the BMW Group has been ranked industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the last five years.

BMW Group Corporate Communications

Stacy Morris, Corporate Communications, BMW of North America

Telephone: +1 201 370 5134, stacy.morris@bmwna.com

Thomas Girst, Spokesperson Cultural Communications, BMW AG

Telephone: +49 89 382 24753, thomas.girst@bmw.de