Jamal Cyrus selected for next BMW Art Journey. Houston–based artist to explore the notion of the Afro-Atlantic.

 

Munich/Basel. Art Basel and BMW are delighted to
present Jamal Cyrus as the next BMW Art Journey winner. The
international jury selected him unanimously from a shortlist of three
artists whose works were exhibited in the Positions sector at last
year’s Art Basel show in Miami Beach. Jamal Cyrus is represented by
Inman Gallery, Houston.

The notion of the Afro-Atlantic provides the conceptual
underpinning for Jamal Cyrus’ journey. It is, in his own words, “an
intercontinental and multinational geography describing the
circulation of ideas between Africa, Europe, and the Americas.”
Inspired in part by Paul Gilroy’s writings from the early 1990s, Cyrus
aims to examine the many diverse cultural hybrids that have emerged
through protracted interaction between the continents. Such cultural
hybrids – molded by forces of conquest, colonization, slavery,
industry, migration, and philosophy – can be apprehended in the
cultural centers Cyrus plans to visit. These include among others the
Elmina Castle in Accra, Ghana; the Theatre Champs-Elysees, in Paris,
France; Brixton’s Electric Avenue, in, London, England; the Alhambra
in Granada, Spain; and Congo Square, in New Orleans, United States.

At each location, Cyrus will record interviews with artists,
musicians, historians, and philosophers who engage with the creative
traditions of the Afro-Atlantic. “The journey promises to be a
transformational process involving travel, dialogue, collective
imagination, and intuitive response that will allow new ideas to
surface in my work”, said Cyrus.

Art Basel and BMW will collaborate with the artist to document
the journey and share it with a broader public through print
publications, online and social media.

The international experts awarding Jamal Cyrus’ journey proposal
were Massimiliano Gioni, Artistic Director, New
Museum, New York City; Gabi Ngcobo, Curator, Berlin
Biennale for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Victoria
Noorthoorn
, Director, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires;
Philip Tinari, Director, Ullens Centre for
Contemporary Art, Beijing; and Susanne Pfeffer,
Director, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt.

“Jamal Cyrus’ BMW Art Journey delineates an imaginary geography
that transforms relations of power and imposed hierarchies,” the
five-member jury stated after its unanimous decision. “His journey
combines elements of directed research and open-ended discovery, all
within a deeply considered theoretical framework. His project struck
us as a profound and sincere search for an understanding of the self,
through the artistic lens of an individual who never forgets his role
as a teacher, and who therefore foresees the multiplying effect of his
experience. Cyrus’ BMW Art Journey will expand and amplify a practice
that has already brought much to the conversation around culture,
history, and identity in the United States.”

In addition to Jamal Cyrus, the shortlisted artists from the
Positions sector for emerging artists at Art Basel in Miami Beach
included: A.K. Burns (represented by Callicoon Fine Arts, New York)
and Mariela Scafati (represented by Isla Flotante, Buenos Aires).

Launched in 2015, the BMW Art Journey is a collaboration between
Art Basel and BMW, created to recognize and support emerging artists
worldwide. From 2018 onwards this unique award is open to artists who
are exhibiting in the Discoveries sector during Art Basel in Hong
Kong. A judging panel comprised of internationally renowned experts
meet first to select a shortlist of three artists from the sector, who
are then invited to submit proposals for a journey aimed to further
develop their ideas and artistic work. The jury reconvenes to choose a
winner from the three proposals.

Past winners of the BMW Art Journey include sound and
performance artist Samson Young presented by a.m.
Space, Hong Kong at Art Basel’s Hong Kong show in 2015, who
represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Venice Biennale; German video
artists Henning Fehr and Philipp
Rühr 
presented by Galerie Max Mayer, Dusseldorf at Art
Basel’s Miami Beach show in 2015; British artist Abigail
Reynolds 
presented by Rokeby, London at Art Basel’s show in
Hong Kong in 2016 as well as Max Hooper Schneider,
presented by High Art, Paris at Art Basel’s Miami Beach show in 2016
and Astha Butail who was recently announced as the
fifth winner and is presented by GALLERYSKE, New Delhi, Bangalore.

The next selections for the BMW Art
Journey
will take place during Art Basel in Hong Kong
on March 28, 5:30 PM
at the BMW Lounge. The winner of the
BMW Art Journey from the Hong Kong show will be announced in early
summer 2018.

BMW is a global partner of Art Basel and has supported Art
Basel’s three shows in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong for many years.

For further information about the artist and the project, please visit:
www.bmw-art-journey.com

For further questions please contact:
Dr Thomas
Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs
Head
of Cultural Engagement
Telephone: +49 89 382 247 53
www.press.bmwgroup.com;

Email: presse@bmw.de

Dorothee Dines
Art Basel
Global Head of Media
Relations
Telephone: +41 58 206 27 06
Email: dorothee.dines@artbasel.com

Jamal Cyrus at Inman Gallery,
Houston
Jamal Cyrus was born in 1973 in Houston, United
States, where he still lives and works. He received his Master of Fine
Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. Cyrus’ work draws on
the languages of collage, assemblage, and the cultural politics
embedded within Black American music and culture. At Art Basel in
Miami Beach 2017, Cyrus presented “STANDARDZENBLŪZ II”, a project
whose imagery is sampled from concert posters, record covers, Jet
Magazine, and the interior of a record store in Tokyo. Cyrus’ solo and
group exhibitions include Inman Gallery, Houston, MOCAD Museum of
Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, and ICA Institute of Contemporary
Art Philadelphia, Philadelphia. www.inmangallery.com/artists/cyrus_jamal/bio.html

About Art Basel


Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel
today stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary
art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong. Defined by its host
city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its
participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of
parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions
for each edition.
Art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art
fairs through a number of new initiatives. In 2014, Art Basel launched
its Crowdfunding Initiative which has catalyzed much-needed support
for outstanding non-commercial art projects worldwide and so far has
helped garner pledges in excess of USD 2 million in support of around
70 art projects from around the globe – from Bogota to Ho Chi Minh
City, San José and Kabul. For Art Basel Cities, launched in 2016, Art
Basel is working with selected partner cities to develop vibrant and
content-driven programs specific to the individual city. Connecting
them to the global art world through Art Basel’s expertise and
network, Art Basel Cities supports its partners to develop their
unique cultural landscape. For further information, please visit artbasel.com.

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 for granted – as this 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
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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 14
countries; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2017, the BMW Group sold over 2,463,500 passenger vehicles
and more than 164,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in
the financial year 2016 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.

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