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On the occasion of this year’s Art Basel in Miami Beach, the BMW Art Car by John Baldessari celebrated its world premiere. The 19th vehicle of the BMW Art Car Collection was designed by the American master of conceptual art and revealed in the presence of the artist himself, Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America, and Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director, at the Botanical Garden of Miami Beach. John Baldessari’s BMW M6 GTLM, a race car with a speed of up to 300 km/h, depending on the race track, and 585 hp, will be on public display until the closing of Art Basel.
“I have done only one work in my life involving a car before, and that was an image of a car. So for the BMW Art Car project, I entered uncharted territory, not just in terms of the subject, but also moving from two- to three-dimensional art. A challenge I did enjoy! The ideas all came at once: for instance, the red dot on the roof, so you can see it from above, FAST on one side and a picture of the car on the other side. I like the ambiguity, having two-dimension and three-dimension at the same time. Considering the car as an icon of contemporary life, my concept turned out playfully satirical, but it also highlights some of the trademark ideas that I use. So you can say, the BMW Art Car is definitely a typical Baldessari and the fastest artwork I ever created!” –John Baldessari
For the 19th BMW Art Car, John Baldessari as the legend of an entire LA art scene drew on his famous artistic trademarks. Designing the car, this American artist turned to well-known stylistic devices and created an iconic work which unites his creative practices of the past 50 years in a unique manner. As a committed minimalist, he worked with the colours red, yellow, blue and green and with his monochrome dots, he left his familiar colourful marks on the M6 GTLM as well. Baldessari’s ironic play on the multi-dimensionality of the race car as an art object is most obvious in the graphic reflection of the car in profile. And with “FAST” as a central typographic element the artist boldly transports the power of the BMW Art Car to its outside and makes it visually accessible for the viewers both at the race track and the museum.
Following the 40-year tradition of BMW Art Cars, John Baldessari’s “rolling sculpture” will then prove itself on the race track of Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 28 and 29, 2017. Bill Auberlen (US), Alexander Sims (GB), Augusto Farfus (BR) and Bruno Spengler (CA) will take turns in driving the BMW Art Car next year.
Since 1975, a total of 17 international artists have been creating BMW Art Cars on the basis of contemporary BMW automobiles. In November 2015, BMW Group announced two artists to create the next BMW Art Cars at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. In addition to American artist John Baldessari, multimedia artist Cao Fei, one of China’s most important contemporary artists who just received the CAA Artist of the Year award, is currently designing another vehicle for this legendary collection. The world premiere of the 18th BMW Art Car will take place during the summer of 2017. With their works, Cao Fei and John Baldessari will be joining the ranks of renowned artists such as Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.
For further information available at: www.press.bmwgroup.com
Video footage: www.press.bmwgroup.com/tv-footage
Press contact:
Dr Thomas Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
Head of Cultural Engagement
T +49 89 382 24753 / presse [at] bmw.de