Entries in art cars (1)

Monday
Sep262011

BMW Museum - Art Cars

In the news recently, a BMW "art car" was sold for $770,000 at action:

BMW "art cars" are simply versions that have been painted by an artist.  The above is a BMW M1 painted by Frank Stella.  Luckily, the BMW Museum had a collection of many of their "art cars" on display when we visited (it was a "special exhibit").  We'll end our series on the BMW Museum by looking at some of these objets d'art.

The first art car was in collaboration with  Alexander Calder.  It's a BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975.  430hp.  This actually raced in Le Mans!  (Most are not really driven)  Calder did not paint this himself.  He painted a toy car, then a 1:5 scale model, and handed it over to BMW to replicate on the actual car: 

 

Frank Stella.  BMW 3.0 CSL, 1976.  Also raced LeMans.  Inspired by engineering drawings and charts:


Roy Lichtenstein.  BMW 320, 1977.


Andy Warhol.  BMW M1, 1979.  First artist that actually painted the car himself (rather than submit a scale model to car painting specialists).  Some paint is quite thick, creating texture:

 


Ernst Fuchs.  BMW 635CSi, 1982.  Called "Firefox":



Michael Jagamara Nelson.  BMW M3, 1989.  Rooted in / inspired from aboriginal patterns:

 

Ken Done.  BMW M3, 1989.  Motif partly based on the colorful parrotfish (so Frau A should like this one):

 

Matazo Kayama.  BMW 535i, 1990:


A.R. Penck.  BMW Z1, 1991: 

 


Sandro Chia.  BMW M3, 1992: 


David Hockney.  BMW 859CSi, 1995:


Jenny Holzer.  BMW V12 LMR, 1999.  This was my personal favorite, both for the car and the "art".

 

  

Here is a summary of the text on the car:

Top:  "Protect me from what I want"  (If you only see the hood, it simply reads "What I Want".  Very cool)
Seat:  "What urge will save us now that sex won't?"
Left:  "The unattainable is unvariably attractive"
Right:  "You are so complex you don't respond to danger"
Back:  "Monomania is a prerequisite of success"
Spoiler:  "Lack of charisma can be fatal"

Which is your favorite?  What artists should be the next to paint a BMW?