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Following commissions by Jenny Holzer (1999), Olafur Elíasson (2007) and Jeff Koons (2010), the BMW Art Car series will now be continued. On the occasion of the series’ 40th anniversary, a jury of distinguished museum directors and curators chose two internationally renowned artists to design one car each. Chinese artist Cao Fei (b. 1978) and American artist John Baldessari (b. 1931) will be the youngest and the oldest artist represented in the collection respectively. On November 19, Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, announced the collaboration at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in front of 150 select guests, including the artists. Both will create a BMW M6 GT3 in the coming year. The newly-designed vehicles will then be presented in museums in 2017, while also having to prove themselves on the racetrack.
Artists’ comments
“I’m thrilled to be able to join the magnificent list of BMW Art Car artists. Acceleration, a concept that reminds me of my desire for speed as a runner during the Young Pioneers days, is deeply connected to the entangled contemporary relationships between velocity, energy, and the country.”
–Cao Fei
“I was honored to have many of my respected peers recommend me as a BMW Art Car artist. Creating art that exists outside of a museum is important to me, and should be a goal for all artists. This will definitely be my fastest artwork yet.”
–John Baldessari
With their commitment, Cao Fei and John Baldessari will be joining the ranks of renowned artists such as Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and David Hockney.
The jury
The experts who conducted the judging were Richard Armstrong, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York); Chris Dercon, Director, Tate Modern (London); Juan Gaitán, Director, Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo (Mexico City); Gabriele Horn, Director, KW Institute of Contemporary Art (Berlin); Udo Kittelmann, Director, Nationalgalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Dr. Matthias Mühling, Director, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Munich); Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Serpentine Gallery (London); Shwetal A. Patel, Kochi-Muziris Biennale (India); Beatrix Ruf, Director, Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam); Bisi Silva, Director, The Centre for Contemporary Art (Lagos); Philip Tinari, Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Bejing); and Adam D. Weinberg, Director, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York).
Regarding the nominations, the jury has said of their choice:
“We are convinced that both nominated artists can add—in their distinctive approaches—unique and new facets to the existing collection of the BMW Art Cars. Cao Fei is one of the most promising and boldest Chinese artists of her generation. For her work on the 18th BMW Art Car, we are in particular looking forward as to how she may turn the car into an imaginative part of her parallel universe. John Baldessari is a great pioneer and godfather of an entire art scene in LA and beyond. As a ‘serial’ inventor, he keeps surprising us, and we are excited to see the unexpected in what he will come up with for the 19th BMW Art Car.”
Press contact:
Dr. Thomas Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs
Head of Cultural Engagement
T +49 89 382 24753 / thomas.girst [at] bmwgroup.com