Munich. The BMW Museum in Munich is using a special exhibition taking place as part of the international BMW Art Car World Tour to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of both the legendary BMW Art Car Collection and the iconic BMW 3 Series. The exhibition will open its doors to visitors from 17 June, hot on the heels of the Le Mans 24 Hours race weekend. Fittingly, it was at Le Mans in 1975 that the first BMW Art Car – created by Alexander Calder – staged its glittering premiere. The exhibition, which runs until 1 February 2026, will see the BMW Museum present a trio of Art Cars based on the BMW 3 Series: Sandro Chia’s BMW M3 GTR and the BMW M3 (Group A) cars designed by Michael Jagamara Nelson and Ken Done respectively.

The exhibition at the BMW Museum – the home of the BMW Art Cars when they are not on display at destinations around the globe – is one of the attractions of the ongoing BMW Art Car World Tour, the largest exhibition project yet in the 50-year history of the collection. The Tour has so far visited 12 markets on five continents, and will continue to showcase the legendary BMW Art Cars across numerous art and car platforms, and at institutes worldwide, over the coming year. The BMW Museum will use the special exhibition to provide insights into the artistic brilliance and history of the BMW Art Car Collection, as well as inviting visitors to explore the technical excellence of the 3 Series and the innovative power of the BMW brand.

50 years of driving pleasure: the BMW 3 Series 
Since it first hit the roads in 1975, the BMW 3 Series has served as a byword for driving pleasure and a cornerstone for the success of BMW. Across five decades, it has reimagined the concept of the sports sedan, set new standards for performance and put smiles on the faces of millions of drivers around the world. From the groundbreaking first generation to today’s innovative models, the 3 Series has been an enduring, style-defining feature of the automotive landscape.

50 years of “rolling sculptures”: the BMW Art Car Collection
Since 1975, renowned artists from countries the world over have gone to work creating BMW Art Cars. The idea was the brainchild of French racing driver and art lover Hervé Poulain, who teamed up with BMW’s then Head of Motorsport Jochen Neerpasch to invite friend and artist Alexander Calder to paint a design onto a car. The result was a BMW 3.0 CSL that competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975, becoming a darling of the crowd – and marking the birth of the BMW Art Car Collection. Famous names including Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer and Ólafur Elíasson have since added further BMW Art Cars bearing their own individual style to the collection. More recently, the American John Baldessari and Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei used the BMW M6 GTLM and BMW M6 GT3 respectively as a canvas for their takes on the BMW Art Car concept in 2016 and 2017. They therefore joined Jeff Koons and Julie Mehretu in applying their creativity to dynamic racing cars in the last 15 years.

BMW Art Cars at the BMW Museum from 17 June
BMW M3 Group A by Ken Done (1989):
Australian artist Ken Done created a vibrant and richly coloured design that captures the energy and dynamism of motor racing. His work represents a homage to the speed and power of the BMW M3.

“It was a great honour to be asked to be part of this fabulous Art Car collection. I wanted to express the joy of speed and the brilliance of the machine itself.” Ken Done

BMW M3 Group A by Michael Jagamara Nelson (1989):
Michael Jagamara Nelson, also from Australia, brought the traditions of Aboriginal art to the bodywork of the BMW M3. His complex motifs using dot painting techniques tell Dreaming stories that are deeply rooted in the culture of his people.

“A car is a landscape as it would be seen from a plane – I have included water, the kangaroo and the opossum.” Michael Jagamara Nelson

BMW M3 GTR by Sandro Chia (1992):
Italian artist Sandro Chia transformed a BMW M3 GTR into a painting on wheels that depicts human figures and emotions in vivid colours. His work symbolises the connection between man and machine, and invites us to reflect on the role of the car in modern society.

“I have created both a picture and a world. Everything that is looked at closely turns into a face. A face is a focus, a focus of life and the world.” Sandro Chia

The 10th BMW Art Car, a BMW 730i designed by Spanish artist César Manrique in 1990, is also on show at the BMW Museum as part of its permanent exhibition.

For more information, please visit:
BMW Art Cars im BMW Museum
BMW Art Car World Tour

If you have any questions, please contact:
Lisa Meindl
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
Spokesperson BMW Museum und BMW Welt
Phone: +49-89-382-31668 
E-Mail: Lisa.Meindl@bmw.de

Ilya Baryshev
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
Spokesperson, BMW Art Car World Tour
Telefon: +49-151-601-544-36
E-Mail: Ilya.Baryshev@bmwgroup.com

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.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Ilya Baryshev
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
BMW Art Car World Tour
Phone: +49 151 601 544 36
Email: Ilya.Baryshev@bmwgroup.com  

Paris/Munich. La 20e BMW Art Car est présentée au public pour la première fois aujourd'hui au Centre Pompidou à Paris. Conçu par la célèbre artiste contemporaine new-yorkaise Julie Mehretu, le projet transforme la voiture de course BMW M Hybrid V8 en une œuvre d'art performante, perpétuant ainsi une longue tradition de BMW Art Cars et de compétition. Quelques semaines seulement après sa première mondiale dans la capitale française, la nouvelle édition de la collection historique de BMW Art Car participera aux 24 heures du Mans.

« L'ensemble du projet BMW Art Car est axé sur l'invention, l'imagination et le dépassement des limites du possible. Je ne vois pas cette voiture comme quelque chose que l'on expose. Je la vois comme une voiture qui va courir au Mans. C'est une peinture performative. Ma BMW Art Car a été créée en étroite collaboration avec les équipes de sport automobile et d'ingénierie", explique Julie Mehretu. La BMW Art Car n'est achevée qu'une fois la course terminée ».

La collaboration entre BMW et Julie Mehretu comprend également un engagement commun pour une série d'ateliers médiatiques translocaux panafricains destinés aux cinéastes, qui tourneront dans différentes villes africaines en 2025 et 2026, et qui aboutiront à une grande exposition au Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa au Cap.

« Les BMW Art Cars constituent un élément essentiel de notre engagement culturel mondial. Depuis près de 50 ans, nous coopérons avec des artistes qui sont tout aussi fascinés par la mobilité et le design que par la technologie et le sport automobile. La vision de Julie Mehretu pour une voiture de course est une contribution extraordinairement forte à notre série de BMW Art Cars », a déclaré Oliver Zipse, président du conseil d'administration de BMW AG. "Julie Mehretu a créé bien plus qu'une étonnante Art Car. Ses idées nous ont incités à élargir l'engagement culturel de nos Art Cars afin de promouvoir la créativité de jeunes artistes en Afrique ».

Création d'une peinture performative.

L'espace, le mouvement et l'énergie ont toujours été des motifs centraux dans l'œuvre de Julie Mehretu. Pour la conception de la 20e BMW Art Car, elle a transformé pour la première fois une image bidimensionnelle en une représentation tridimensionnelle, lui permettant d'insuffler du dynamisme dans la forme. Julie Mehretu a utilisé le vocabulaire de couleurs et de formes de sa peinture monumentale "Everywhen" (2021 - 2023) comme point de départ pour son design. L'œuvre est actuellement exposée à la grande rétrospective de l'artiste au Palazzo Grassi de Venise et fera ensuite partie de la collection permanente du Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) de New York, à qui elle a été offerte.

Sa forme visuelle abstraite résulte de photographies modifiées numériquement, qui sont superposées en plusieurs couches de grilles de points, de voiles de couleur néon et de marques noires caractéristiques de l'œuvre de Mehretu. « Dans l'atelier où j'avais le modèle de la BMW M Hybrid V8, j'étais assise devant la peinture et je me suis dit : qu'est-ce qui se passerait si cette voiture avait l'air d'être une voiture de luxe ? Que se passerait-il si cette voiture semblait traverser cette peinture et en était affectée ? », explique Julie Mehretu. « L'idée était de faire un remix, un mash-up du tableau. Je n'arrêtais pas de voir la peinture s'infiltrer dans la voiture. Même les reins de la voiture inhalaient la peinture ».

Les voitures d'art BMW avec l'histoire du Mans sont réunies au Concorso d'Eleganza.

La fusion de l'image et du véhicule a été réalisée à l'aide de la cartographie 3D, qui a permis de transférer le motif sur les contours du véhicule. Le décor élaboré permet à la BMW M Hybrid V8 de participer aux 24 heures du Mans. Les pilotes de BMW Motorsport Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), Robin Frijns (NED) et René Rast (GER) prendront le départ de la 20e BMW Art Car avec le numéro 20 sur le circuit de la Sarthe le 15 juin prochain. Comme eux, Julie Mehretu attend la course avec impatience : « j'ai assisté à la course de la BMW M Hybrid V8 à Daytona, et cette expérience m'a bouleversée. Des designers, des ingénieurs, des aérodynamiciens et tant d'autres esprits créatifs travaillent à pousser ce véhicule à l'extrême. Lorsqu'il entrera en piste, de nombreux rêves seront réalisés ».

La BMW Art Car de Julie Mehretu fera une première apparition au Concorso d'Eleganza à Villa d'Este, sur le lac de Côme, avant de se rendre au Mans. Elle sera exposée dans le parc de la Villa Erba aux côtés des BMW Art Cars d'Alexander Calder (1975), Frank Stella (1976), Roy Lichtenstein (1977), Andy Warhol (1979), Jenny Holzer (1999) et Jeff Koons (2010), qui ont également fait leurs débuts en course au Mans. Julie Mehretu discutera de la création de la 20e BMW Art Car lors d'un entretien avec Adrian van Hooydonk, directeur de BMW Group Design, le dimanche 26 mai 2024.

Inspiration pour les jeunes artistes : Ateliers panafricains de médias translocaux.

Dès le départ, la collaboration entre BMW et Julie Mehretu a été conçue au-delà de l'automobile. Cette dernière culminera après les 24 heures du Mans dans un projet destiné aux artistes émergents du continent africain : les PanAfrican Translocal Media Workshops. Ensemble, les partenaires se concentreront sur le potentiel créatif du continent africain, où le groupe BMW œuvre depuis plus de 50 ans dans divers projets éducatifs à responsabilité sociale. 

Julie Mehretu et Mehret Mandefro, producteur et écrivain nommé aux Emmy Awards et cofondateur du Realness Institute, qui contribue au renforcement de l'écosystème des médias en Afrique, organiseront des ateliers dans diverses villes et régions africaines tout au long de l'année 2025. L'objectif de ce projet est d'offrir aux artistes et aux cinéastes un espace de collaboration et d'échange d'idées. Ces réunions permettront aux artistes de développer de nouvelles voies d’avenir civique juste au sein de leurs communautés respectives.

La série d'ateliers translocaux panafricains se rendra dans les villes de Dakar (Sénégal), Marrakech (Maroc), Kigali (Rwanda), Lagos (Nigeria) et Le Cap (Afrique du Sud). Les résultats des ateliers seront présentés avec la 20^ème BMW Art Car au Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa du Cap au cours du premier semestre 2026.

BMW Group poursuit ainsi de manière cohérente le soutien qu'il apporte depuis des décennies au cinéma et aux talents créatifs : de la série de courts métrages "The Hire" et du partenariat avec le Festival international du film de Cannes à l'acquisition d'œuvres réalisées par des étudiants d'académies d'art dans les quartiers des usines de l'entreprise du monde entier.

L'artiste.

Julie Mehretu est une artiste peintre américaine de renommée mondiale. Elle est née à Addis-Abeba, capitale de l'Éthiopie, en 1970. Avec sa famille, elle s'est installée aux États-Unis à l'âge de sept ans. Elle vit et travaille à New York et à Berlin.

La pratique de Mehretu en peinture, dessin et gravure engage le spectateur dans une articulation visuelle dynamique de l'expérience contemporaine, une représentation du comportement social et la psychogéographie de l'espace en explorant les palimpsestes de l'histoire, du temps géologique à une phénoménologie moderne du social.

Mehretu a obtenu sa licence au Kalamazoo College dans le Michigan, a passé une année à l'étranger à l'université Cheikh Anta Diop à Dakar, au Sénégal, et a obtenu sa maîtrise en beaux-arts avec mention à la Rhode Island School of Design en 1997. Julie Mehretu a reçu de nombreux prix, dont le prix MacArthur (2005), le prix Berlin : Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship à l'Académie américaine de Berlin (2007) et le U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts Award (2015). Une exposition de mi-carrière de Mehretu a récemment été présentée au LACMA (Los Angeles), au High Museum (Atlanta), au Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) et au Walker Museum of Art (Minneapolis) de 2019 à 2023. Sa plus grande exposition solo européenne à ce jour, intitulée "Ensemble", a ouvert ses portes le 17 mars 2024 au Palazzo Grassi de Venise.

Mehretu est membre de l'Académie américaine des arts et des lettres, de l'Académie américaine des arts et des sciences et de la National Academy of Design. La galerie Marian Goodman la représente dans le monde entier. Elle expose également avec White Cube, à Londres, et Carlier Gebauer, à Berlin.

Déclaration du jury du 20e BMW Art Car.

Julie Mehretu a été sélectionnée à l'unanimité en 2018 par un jury composé de représentants de haut rang du monde de l'art international afin de concevoir la 20^ème BMW Art Car. Le jury comprend des conservateurs et des directeurs de musée renommés de différents pays, notamment Koyo Kouoh, directeur exécutif et conservateur en chef, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town ; Hans-Ulrich Obrist, directeur artistique des Serpentine Galleries, Londres ; et Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. directeur et conservateur en chef, High Line Art, New York.

À l'occasion de la première mondiale de la BMW Art Car conçue par Julie Mehretu à Paris, les membres du jury ont publié la déclaration suivante : « Nous sommes ravis de la BMW Art Car de Julie ! Okwui Enwezor avait déjà inventé l'expression "Dynamisme dans la forme" lors de notre session de jury et rien ne s'applique mieux à la voiture de course BMW M Hybrid V8. La première œuvre tridimensionnelle de Julie combine son esthétique et son langage formel avec l'idée du glitch et du flou, transformant la vitesse en une expérience viscérale. Cet espace énergique est aussi féroce et compétitif dans la course qu'il est ambitieux en tant que terrain de jeu créatif de l'imagination. Il rend non seulement hommage aux voitures d'art de Jenny Holzer et Frank Stella, mais tisse également une toile visuelle allant de Mad Max aux graffitis et à l'art de la rue, qui est unique dans la série des BMW Art Cars ».

La BMW M Hybrid V8.

La toile de la 20^ème BMW Art Car est la BMW M Hybrid V8. La nouvelle voiture de course de BMW M GmbH est dotée d'un système de transmission hybride électrique d'environ 640 ch, alimenté par un moteur V8 de 4,0 litres assisté d'un moteur électrique (vitesse maximale : jusqu'à 345 km/h ou 215 mph, selon le tracé du circuit).

Lors des courses officielles du Championnat du monde d'endurance de la FIA de cette année, la BMW M Hybrid V8 se mesurera à une concurrence de haut niveau dans la catégorie Hypercars. La voiture participera également aux 24 heures du Mans - le premier prototype BMW M Motorsport à le faire depuis la BMW V12 LMR, qui a remporté la course classique en 1999.

La BMW Art Car Collection.

Des artistes de renom du monde entier participent au programme BMW Art Car depuis 1975. L'initiative revient au pilote automobile français et amateur d'art Hervé Poulain, qui, avec Jochen Neerpasch, alors responsable du sport automobile chez BMW, a demandé à son ami artiste Alexander Calder de peindre une voiture. Le résultat fut une BMW 3.0 CSL, qui participa aux 24 heures du Mans en 1975 et devint l'une des voitures préférées du public.

C'est ainsi qu'est née la BMW Art Car Collection. Dans les années qui ont suivi, des artistes de renom tels que Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Ólafur Elíasson et Jeff Koons ont enrichi la collection avec d'autres BMW Art Cars, chacune dans son propre style. Plus récemment, l'artiste multimédia chinois Cao Fei et l'artiste conceptuel américain John Baldessari ont chacun présenté une BMW Art Car basée sur la BMW M6 GT3 et GTLM respectivement en 2016 et 2017. Les BMW Art Cars ne sont pas seulement présentées à leur domicile ; le BMW Museum de Munich, mais sont régulièrement exposées dans le monde entier dans le cadre d'expositions internationales.

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A propos du BMW Group

Avec ses quatre marques BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce et BMW Motorrad, le groupe BMW est le premier constructeur mondial d'automobiles, de motos, de services financiers et de mobilité haut de gamme. Le réseau de production de BMW Group comprend plus de 30 sites de production dans le monde entier ; l'entreprise dispose d'un réseau de vente mondial dans plus de 140 pays.

En 2023, BMW Group a vendu plus de 2,55 millions de véhicules et plus de 209 000 motos dans le monde. Le bénéfice avant impôt pour l'exercice 2023 s'est élevé à 17,1 milliards d'euros pour un chiffre d'affaires de 155,5 milliards d'euros. Au 31 décembre 2023, le BMW Group employait 154 950 personnes.

Le succès du BMW Group a toujours été construit sur une réflexion à long terme et d’actions responsables. L'entreprise a fixé très tôt le cap pour l'avenir et place systématiquement la durabilité et la gestion efficace des ressources au cœur de son orientation stratégique, de sa chaîne d'approvisionnement, des fins de phases d'utilisations des produits et de la production.

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CO2 EMISSIONS & CONSUMPTION.

BMW a annoncé aujourd'hui au Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum de New York une collaboration avec la célèbre artiste new-yorkaise Julie Mehretu pour la création de la 20ème BMW Art Car. Julie Mehretu a été choisie à l'unanimité par un jury international composé de directeurs de musées et de curateurs. Elle disposera d'une totale liberté de création pour concevoir le prochain élément de la légendaire collection de "rolling sculptures" de BMW. Ci-dessous le communiqué de presse complet en anglais. 

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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.

Munich. BMW M as contemporary art – in the wake of the further development of BMW Individual, the BMW M GmbH will be presenting its latest collaboration: a multi-tiered project with eminent international contemporary artist FUTURA 2000; the partnership will debut at Frieze Los Angeles 2020. In this collaboration, FUTURA 2000, who is known for his mastery of color, concentric forms, and kinetic composition, will create three exclusive and unique versions of the BMW M2 Competition (combined fuel consumption: 10.0 l/100 km; combine CO2 emissions: 227 g/km) in his unmistakable style, whilst also designing a limited-edition of the BMW M2 Competition which is scheduled for public purchase in June 2020. One of the hand-painted BMW M2 by FUTURA 2000 vehicles will celebrate its world premiere at the second Frieze Los Angeles—being held at the Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood from 13 to 16 February.

“The BMW M2 Competition is dynamic, extroverted and, to a certain degree, pleasantly provocative. I consider it a great honour to be able to add a special touch to this vehicle,” says FUTURA 2000. Markus Flasch, CEO BMW M GmbH, adds:  "We are very proud of having been able to gain such an internationally well-known artist as FUTURA 2000 for the collaboration on the three unique one-offs of the  BMW M2 Competition. I’m already looking forward very much to seeing how he transforms our M2 into the edition intended for our customers. With his unique, constructive and rebellious style, Futura is perfectly suited to a young and wild automobile such as the BMW M2 Competition."

The artist will work extensively on the three unique versions of the BMW M2 by FUTURA 2000 both on the exterior and in the interior. The limited-production models will also bear his unique signature. The trim strips on the instrument panel and the centre console of each vehicle boast a special, individually created FUTURA 2000 design. The bi-coloured, Dakota leather M sports seats in black and ivory white feature polar blue contrast stitching. In addition, the interior package includes an M Alcantara leather-clad sports steering wheel with a grey 12 o’clock marking and special door sill trims bearing the consecutive limited-edition number and a Futura signature. From the outside, the BMW M2 Edition designed by FUTURA 2000* is recognisable by the painted surfaces on the front and rear aprons and the side sills. Moreover, each car is fitted with 19-inch jet black light alloy wheels.

Frieze Los Angeles joined Frieze New York, Frieze London and Frieze Masters at the forefront of the international art fair calendar last year, celebrating Los Angeles’ position as a global arts center and destination. The annual contemporary art fair features around 70 L.A.-based and international galleries, alongside a site-specific program of talks, music and commissioned artist projects organized in collaboration with leading curators. Frieze Los Angeles is led by Victoria Siddall, Director, Frieze Fairs, and Bettina Korek, Executive Director, Frieze Los Angeles.

In celebration of their long-term partnership, BMW partners with Frieze to present Frieze Music, co-curated by writer and curator Kevin McGarry and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries London, in association with NeueHouse. The event will feature Moses Sumney, Caroline Polachek, Zsela as well as DJ Uwuqi and takes place on Friday, 14 February, at 9 p.m. at NeueHouse Hollywood.

Soho House and BMW i will host an art talk on Wednesday, 12 February, where contemporary artist FUTURA 2000 and rapper Lupe Fiasco will talk about “Sights and Sounds”, moderated by writer Arty Nelson. As always, the joint event focusses on the fertile ground between art, innovation and design and is followed by a cocktail reception. As part of an ongoing collaboration, Soho House and BMW i have co‑created an international program of events and experiences focusing on art, innovation and design throughout Soho House locations across the world.

FUTURA 2000, born Leonard Hilton McGurr, established himself as a pioneer when graffiti met the formal gallery ecosystem in the 1980s. He quickly became known for his radical approach in the street, introducing abstraction to an entirely letter based discipline, and found himself as part of a wider art movement that included the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Dondi White, and Rammellzee. Aside from his decades long career as a contemporary artist, he has achieved great success as a commercial artist, being commissioned by the likes of several well-known brands.

With the one-offs and the BMW M2 Edition designed by FUTURA 2000*, the BMW M GmbH is setting trends both in the high-performance vehicle sector and the art scene alike. The BMW M2 Competition is a truly successful model for the BMW M GmbH. The high-performance athlete positioned in the premium compact class is powered by a dual-charged, straight six-cylinder with M TwinPower Turbo Technology and 302 kW (410 hp), and was again the best-selling BMW M automobile and most popular model in its segment in 2019. In the readers’ voting for the “sportiest cars of 2019” held by the magazine “sport auto”, the BMW M2 Competition asserted itself in the category “Coupes up to 75,000 Euros” and clinched the “sport auto” Award 2019 with 32.1 percent of the votes and clearly ahead of the competition. 

* specific parts are individually hand painted, the final look and layout can be slightly different than shown in the pictures.

CO2 EMISSIONS & CONSUMPTION.

BMW M2 Competition (combined fuel consumption: 10.0 l/100 km; combine CO2 emissions: 227 g/km).

Munich. In the wake of the further development of BMW Individual, BMW M GmbH will be presenting its latest collaboration, a multi-tiered project with eminent international contemporary artist FUTURA 2000. The partnership will debut at Frieze Los Angeles 2020. In this collaboration, FUTURA 2000, who is known for his mastery of colour, concentric forms, and kinetic composition, will create three exclusive and unique versions of the BMW M2 Competition (combined fuel consumption: 10.0 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 227 g/km) in his unmistakable style, whilst also designing a limited-edition series of the BMW M2 Competition which is scheduled for public purchase in June 2020. One of the hand-painted BMW M2 by Futura vehicles will celebrate its world premiere at the second Frieze Los Angeles – being held at the Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood from 13 to 16 February.

FUTURA 2000, born Leonard Hilton McGurr, established himself as a pioneer when graffiti met the formal gallery ecosystem in the 1980s. He quickly became known for his radical approach on the street, introducing abstraction to an entirely letter based discipline, and found himself part of a wider art movement that included the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Dondi White. Aside from his decades-long career as a contemporary artist, he has achieved great success as a commercial artist, collaborating with several well-known brands.

With the unique BMW M2 by Futura and the BMW M2 Edition Futura, BMW M GmbH is setting trends both in the high-performance vehicle sector and the art scene.

About Futura 2000

FUTURA 2000, born Leonard Hilton McGurr, became a pioneer when graffiti met the formal gallery ecosystem in the 1980s. Known for his radical approach in the street, he introduced abstraction to an entirely letter-based discipline. His work caught attention in the 1980s, and he found himself as part of a wider art movement that included the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Dondi White. Entirely self-taught in what he calls “the subway school”, FUTURA 2000 has been compared to Kandinsky for his mastery of colour, concentric forms, and kinetic composition—and friends Basquiat, Kenny Scharf, and Rammellzee for his progressiveness and of-the moment dynamism.

Radical then, his methodology can now be viewed over a span of decades as something consummately pure. When compared to many street artists who have come along since its seminal moment in the 1980s New York, FUTURA 2000’s work still stands apart for its subtlety, use of white space, and elemental quality. Insight and proficiency have kept him relevant for 40+ years with no signs of slowing down. He has also achieved great success as a commercial artist, having collaborated with several well-known brands.

About BMW Group Cultural Engagement

For almost 50 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on contemporary and modern art, classical music and jazz as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group’s Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Daniel Barenboim, Jonas Kaufmann and architect Zaha Hadid have co-operated with BMW. In 2016 and 2017, female artist Cao Fei from China and American John Baldessari created the next two vehicles for the BMW Art Car Collection. Besides co-initiatives, such as BMW Tate Live, the BMW Art Journey and the “Opera for All” concerts in Berlin, Munich, Moscow and London, the company also partners with leading museums and art fairs as well as orchestras and opera houses around the world. As part of its art programme “Muse”, Rolls-Royce partners for the initiative “The Dream Commission” with two internationally esteemed art institutions. Together with Fondation Beyeler and Serpentine Galleries, emerging and established artists are invited to submit a moving-image work that delivers an immersive sensory experience. The artists are nominated and chosen by renowned personalities of the art world like Daniel, Birnbaum, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Cao Fei, and Theodora Vischer. BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural activities for granted – as this initiative is as essential for producing groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview

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 31 production and assembly facilities in 15 countries; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2019, the BMW Group sold over 2,520,000 passenger vehicles and more than 175,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2018 was € 9.815 billion on revenues amounting to € 97.480 billion. As of 31 December 2018, the BMW Group had a workforce of 134,682 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based 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.

www.bmwgroup.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BMWGroup

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMWGroup

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A l’occasion du quatrième gala annuel de la Fondation Leonardo DiCaprio (LDF) à Saint-Tropez, BMW France a eu le plaisir d’offrir une BMW i3 dessinée par Maurizio Cattelan et Pierpaolo Ferrari de TOILETPAPER, pour la vente aux enchères annuelle. Après d’intenses enchères, l’œuvre unique et néanmoins voiture électrique roulante a été acquise par un collectionneur Suisse pour la somme de € 100.000.

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Saint-Tropez/Munich. On the occasion of Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s (LDF) Fourth Annual Saint-Tropez Gala, BMW France had the pleasure to donate a BMW i3, designed by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari of TOILETPAPER, for the yearly fundraising auction. After some intense bidding, the unique artwork and fully functioning electric vehicle went to a Swiss collector for the amount of €100,000.

The gala was hosted by LDF Founder and Chairman Leonardo DiCaprio, foundation CEO Terry Tamminen and the Global Fundraising Chairman Milutin Gatsby, honoring the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. Event Chairs included Prince Albert II of Monaco, Cate Blanchett, Marion Cotillard, Philippe Cousteau, Penélope Cruz, Tom Hanks, Kate Hudson, Doutzen Kroes, Jared Leto, Tobey Maguire, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Uma Thurman and Kate Winslet. Among the guests in attendance were Adrien Brody, Sean Penn, Taylor Hill, Iman Hamman and Gerard Butler. For the international guests, American artist Lenny Kravitz performed on site. Additionally, there was a surprise performance by Madonna.

Vincent Salimon, CEO BMW Group France is delighted that “our commitments to sustainable development and support for contemporary creation come together to raise funds for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The BMW i3 "Spaghetti Car" was created by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari on the initiative of BMW France and the Rencontres d'Arles, BMW partnered for 8 years. The donation of this unique work for the Foundation's annual charity gala in Saint-Tropez reflects once again the company's culture: daring, innovating, creating in complete freedom, in a responsible and sustainable spirit.”

Auctioneer Simon de Pury, together with curator Lisa Schiff of SFA Advisory oversaw the sale of dozens of original works by internationally renowned artists such as Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Urs Fischer, Paul McCarthy, Adrian Ghenie, Rudolf Stingel and current BMW Art Journey recipient Max Hooper Schneider.

With $30 million raised so far, the auction continues online to benefit LDF programs. Please visit: http://www.2017ldfauction.org/en.

The BMW i3 “Spaghetti Car” On the occasion of the Rencontres d’Arles Festival of Photography in 2016, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan (*1960) created a BMW i3 (60 Ah) “rolling sculpture” together with the photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari (*1971). In 2009 Cattelan and Ferrari co-created TOILETPAPER, a bi-annual picture-based publication. For the exterior of the BMW i3, TOILETPAPER employed their signature style spaghetti close-up imagery. Cattelan remarked upon his work: “This is by far the best Spaghetti Car I have tasted! All those years of perfecting definitely paid off! Totally awesome!”

Maurizio Cattelan is considered one of the most significant artists of his time, with major exhibitions at international museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Georges Pompidou as well as the Guggenheim Museum in New York. His sculpture “Him” (2001) sold at auction at Christie’s in 2016 in excess of $17m. Within the same year, he installed “America”, a solid 18-karat gold toilet in the Guggenheim Museum’s restroom, free of use for the public. Cattelan is a four-time participant of the Venice Biennial.

From Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein to Robert Rauschenberg and Jeff Koons, BMW has been collaborating with artists creating Art Cars for almost half a century. The BMW i3 series was launched in 2014 as part of the BMW i brand, standing for visionary vehicle concepts and technologies, connected mobility services as well as a new understanding of premium defined by sustainability. The “Spaghetti Car” by TOILETPAPER is a fully functioning electric vehicle and came with a certificate of authenticity signed by TOILETPAPER (Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari) as co-creators of this unique work of art.

For event images please refer to: www.picdrop.de/gettyentertainment

(© Getty Images for Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation)

About BMW Group’s Cultural Commitment For almost 50 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on contemporary and modern art, classical music and jazz as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group's Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Daniel Barenboim, Jonas Kaufmann and architect Zaha Hadid have co-operated with BMW. In 2016 and 2017, female artist Cao Fei from China and American John Baldessari created the next two vehicles for the BMW Art Car Collection. Besides co-initiatives, such as BMW Tate Live, the BMW Art Journey and the “Opera for All” concerts in Berlin, Munich and London, the company also partners with leading museums and art fairs as well as orchestras and opera houses around the world. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural activities – as this initiative is as essential for producing groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BMW-Group-Culture-925330854231870/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmwgroupculture/

@BMWGroupCulture

#BMWGroupCulture

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. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and 145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax was approximately € 9.67 billion on revenues amounting to € 94.16 billion. As of 31 December 2016, the BMW Group had a workforce of 124,729 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based 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.

www.bmwgroup.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BMWGroup

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMWGroup

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupview

Google+: http://googleplus.bmwgroup.com

Munich/New York. Suite à la demande de Jenny Holzer (1999), Olafur Elíasson (2007) et Jeff Koons (2010), la série des BMW Art Cars se poursuivra. À l'occasion du 40e anniversaire de la série, un jury composé de directeurs et de conservateurs de musée renommés a choisi deux artistes réputés mondialement pour dessiner chacun une voiture. L'artiste chinoise Cao Fei (*1978) et l'artiste américain John Baldessari (*1931) seront respectivement la plus jeune et le plus vieil artiste représentés dans la collection. Le 19 novembre et en présence des artistes, Ian Robertson, membre du Comité directeur de BMW AG, annonçait la collaboration au musée Solomon R. Guggenheim de New York face à 150 invités triés sur le volet. Les deux artistes créeront une BMW M6 GT3 l'année prochaine. Les véhicules nouvellement dessinés seront ensuite présentés dans les musées en 2017,  mais ils devront également prouver leurs talents sur les circuits de course. « À l'occasion du 40e anniversaire de la collection BMW Art Car, il est temps de se tourner vers l'avenir. La collection est la consécration de l'engagement culturel du groupe BMW – ses véhicules symbolisent la combinaison d'une technologie de pointe et d'un art d'inspiration. Nous sommes très fiers d'agrandir la série avec deux œuvres de tels artistes de renom », a affirmé Ian Robertson au cours de la présentation.

Commentaires des artistes

« Je suis impatiente de pouvoir rejoindre la grande liste des artistes BMW Art Car. Le concept d'accélération, qui me rappelle mon désir de vitesse lorsque j’étais coureur lors des journées des Young Pioneers, est profondément lié aux relations contemporaines complexes entre la vitesse, l'énergie et le pays. »
Cao Fei

« J’ai été très honoré de voir qu’un nombre important de mes respectés confrères m’ait recommandé comme artiste BMW Art Car. Créer un art qui continue à exister en dehors d'un musée est important pour moi et devrait être un objectif pour tous les artistes. Ce sera assurément mon œuvre d'art la plus rapide à ce jour. »
John Baldessari

Grâce à leur engagement, Cao Fei et John Baldessari rejoindront les rangs d'artistes célèbres tels qu’Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg et David Hockney.

Le jury

Les experts qui composaient le jury étaient Richard Armstrong, directeur, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York) ; Chris Dercon, directeur, Tate Modern (Londres) ; Juan Gaitán, directeur, Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo (Mexico) ; Gabriele Horn, directrice, KW Institute of Contemporary Art (Berlin) ; Udo Kittelmann, directeur, Nationalgalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin ; Dr. Matthias Mühling, directeur, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Munich) ; Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-directeur, Serpentine Gallery (Londres) ; Shwetal A. Patel, Kochi-Muziris Biennale (Inde) ; Beatrix Ruf, directrice, Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam) ; Bisi Silva, directrice, The Centre for Contemporary Art (Lagos) ; Philip Tinari, directeur, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Pékin) et Adam D. Weinberg, directeur, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York).

En ce qui concerne les nominations, le jury a fait part de son choix :
« Nous sommes convaincus que les deux artistes nominés peuvent apporter – chacun par leur approche différente – de nouvelles facettes uniques à la collection existante des BMW Art Cars. Cao Fei est l'une des artistes les plus prometteuses et les plus audacieuses de Chine de sa génération. En ce qui concerne ses travaux sur la 18e BMW Art Car, nous sommes notamment curieux de voir comment elle intègrera la partie imaginaire de son univers parallèle dans la voiture. John Baldessari est un pionnier et le parrain d'une scène artistique à part entière à LA. En tant qu'inventeur “sériel”, il continue à nous surprendre et nous sommes curieux de voir ce moment inattendu où il sortira la 19e BMW Art Car. »

La BMW M6 GT3

En 2016, la BMW M6 GT3 sera le fer de lance de la gamme des voitures disponibles dans le programme de course des clients BMW. Elle est animée par un moteur V8 de 4,4 litres avec technologie M TwinPower Turbo, qui a été modifié légèrement pour une utilisation en course. Le groupe propulseur est lubrifié par carter sec et développe un maximum de 585 ch, la voiture pesant moins de 1300 kilogrammes. Parmi les autres caractéristiques techniques figurent le concept de boîte-pont, la boîte de vitesses de course séquentielle à six rapports et l'électronique hautes performances affûtée pour les sports moteur. Les propriétés aérodynamiques du châssis ont été optimisées dans le tunnel de soufflerie de BMW. Les ingénieurs ont travaillé méticuleusement pour peaufiner la BMW M6 Coupé qui constituait la base de la nouvelle voiture et était déjà parfaitement adaptée à des sorties sur circuit.

Jens Marquardt, directeur de BMW Motorsport : « C'est magnifique de voir la tradition de la série BMW Art Car se poursuivre avec la BMW M6 GT3. Les sports moteur et les BMW Art Cars ont toujours été étroitement liés. Nos voitures de course dans les configurations spéciales d'artistes de renom ont un statut culte auprès du public. Je suis convaincu qu'il est sera de même des œuvres de Cao Fei et John Baldessari. Bien entendu, nous ferons tout pour remporter des victoires avec les BMW M6 GT3 Art Cars. Cette combinaison entre art et performances sur circuit de course est vraiment unique. »

La collection BMW Art Car

Depuis 1975, des artistes du monde entier ont créé des voitures artistiques à partir de véhicules BMW contemporains. La collection a été inaugurée lorsque le pilote de course français et passionné d'art, Hervé Poulain, en collaboration avec l'actuel directeur de BMW Motorsport, Jochen Neerpasch, demanda à son ami artiste, Alexander Calder, de dessiner une voiture. Le résultat fut une BMW 3.0 CSL qui concourut aux 24 Heures du Mans en 1975 et gagna instantanément le cœur des spectateurs : la collection BMW Art Car était née. En 2010, l'ajout le plus récent à la série, une voiture dessinée par Jeff Koons, fut présenté au Centre Pompidou à Paris. Les BMW Art Cars sont non seulement exposées dans leur ville natale au musée BMW de Munich, mais elles voyagent également dans le monde entier à des expositions et musées en Asie, Europe et Amérique du Nord. En 2014 est parue la première publication complète sur la collection. Pour d'autres informations, veuillez consulter l'adresse http://bit.ly/1JSDssV.

Le 12 juin à 15 heures commencera la légendaire course des 24 Heures du Mans. Un des points forts de la course sera sans nul doute la participation de la 17e BMW Art Car de Jeff Koons qui a été présentée à Paris la semaine précédente. En avril 2010, le directeur de BMW Motorsport Mario Theissen a annoncé la composition des équipages aux 24 Heures du Mans. Andy Priaulx (GB), Dirk Müller (DE) et Dirk Werner (DE) prendront le volant de la BMW Art Car n°79. Jörg Müller (DE), Augusto Farfus (BR) et Uwe Alzen (DE) conduiront la BMW n°78. Veuillez trouver en annexe le dossier complet en anglais.

Lors de la première présentation de la 17ème Art Car le 1er juin, Jeff Koons a dévoilé et signé sa voiture en présence de 300 personnalités réunies pour l’occasion au Centre Pompidou, l’une des institutions culturelles les plus prestigieuses au monde dans le domaine de l’art moderne et contemporain. BMW a annoncé que la 17ème Art Car, créée par Jeff Koons, s’élancera les 12 et 13 juin 2010 sur la piste des 24 Heures du Mans, ainsi que l’avaient fait les premières Art Cars BMW signées par de célèbres artistes comme Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein et Alexander Calder. Le support de l’oeuvre de Koons est une BMW M3 GT2 homologuée afin de pouvoir participer à la course d’endurance la plus célèbre au monde. Veuillez trouver en annexe le dossier complet en anglais.

Dans la lignée de ses collaborations avec Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol et Holzer, BMW annonce aujourd’hui que sa 17ème Art Car, créée par Jeff Koons, participera aux 24 Heures du Mans les 12 et 13 juin 2010 – suivant ainsi l’exemple des premières voitures de la marque transformées par d’illustres artistes. Le modèle qui servira de support à la créativité de Koons est une BMW M3 GT2, homologuée pour prendre cette année le départ de la course d’endurance la plus célèbre au monde. Koons présentera sa création et la signera le 1e juin au Centre Pompidou à Paris ainsi que l’avait fait Roy Lichtenstein en 1977. Veuillez trouver en annexe le dossier complet en anglais.