New Delhi. BMW Group India presents the 1979 Art Car
painted by most renowned American artist Andy Warhol in India. His
creation will be exclusively exhibited from 31 January – 2 February
2020 at the India Art Fair in New Delhi. After Alexander Calder, Frank
Stella and Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol created the 4th Art Car for
BMW with the BMW M1Group 4 to compete at the infamous 24 hour race of
Le Mans.
BMW Art Cars or the ‘Rolling Sculptures’ are original masterpieces of
art that demonstrate an individual synthesis of artistic expression
and automobile design. Since 1975, 19 international artists have
created Art Cars based on contemporary BMW automobiles of their times,
all offering a wide range of artistic interpretations.
Mr. Rudratej Singh, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMW Group
India said, “At BMW, we just don’t build the best performing cars, but
deeply believe in the intangibles. We hold our design aesthetics very
dear, this inspires us as well as our users to stretch their creative
boundaries. People love BMW for its superior performance, safety,
luxurious experiences, and an underpinning is the design and aesthetic
creative sensibility. To help build and strengthen intercultural
platforms of creativity in the field of art, music, design and
architecture is therefore very core to us. India Art Fair is a perfect
platform for us to reach out to our discerning customers and showcase
the brands aesthetics and design philosophy. My personal favourite is
the exclusive showcase of the most photographed BMW Art Car in the
world – by Andy Warhol. It is at India Art Fair and I would urge our
fans and patrons not to miss seeing it in person! We bring to India
yet another timeless interaction between art, artist and the
automobile closer to our customers and connoisseurs of art.”
#4 BMW Art Car Andy Warhol 1979 BMW M1 Group 4
“I love this car. It’s more successful than the artwork,” was the
opinion of Andy Warhol after his sweeping brush strokes had
transformed the BMW M1. It took him less than half an hour to create
the fourth exhibit in the BMW Art Car Collection. 40 years later,
enthusiasm for the mid-engined sports car remains unabated. Already
world-famous at that time, the US icon of Pop Art shared the same
passion with many automobile fans of that bygone era. And the
fascination of the unique special created by Warhol has indeed
increased. Many fans regard his Art Car as the highlight of the entire collection.
A person who declares soup cans a work of art or aspires to have a
department store closed so that it may be preserved as a museum for
posterity, will not see any conflict between technology and
creativity. Consequently, this is how he worked. Instead of first
designing a scale model and leaving the final completion to his
assistants as his predecessors did, the pop art legend painted the BMW
M1 from the beginning to the end himself. “I have tried to give a
vivid depiction of speed. If a car is really fast, all contours and
colours will become blurred”.
Andy Warhol
The name Andy Warhol is the quintessence of pop art. Born in
Pittsburgh USA in 1928, he studied from 1945 to 1949 at the Carnegie
Institute of Technology. He began his artistic career as a commercial
artist and was successful in holding his own exhibition in New York as
early as in 1952. In 1956 his work was acknowledged with the coveted
“Art Director’s Club Award“. 1962 saw the creation of the legendary
“Factory” – a negation and reversal of traditional artistic ideas as
it had never been seen before. His celebrity portraits and paintings
of trivial objects became famous. Warhol died in New York in 1987.
BMW Art Car Collection
For over 40 years, BMW Art Car Collection has fascinated art and
design enthusiasts as well as lovers of cars and technology with its
unique combination of fine art and innovative automobile technology.
Several cars from BMW Art Car Collection are usually on display at the
BMW Museum in Munich, the home of BMW Art Cars, as part of its
permanent collection. The remaining BMW Art Cars travel the globe – to
art fairs as well as exhibitions.
The BMW Art Car collection was born when French race car driver and
art aficionado Hervé Poulain, together with Jochen Neerpasch, then BMW
Motorsport Director, asked his artist friend Alexander Calder to
design an automobile. The result was a BMW 3.0 CSL, which competed in
24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975, where it quickly became the crowd’s
favourite. Since then, 19 international artists have designed BMW
models, among them some of the most renowned artists of our time:
Alexander Calder (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975), Frank Stella (BMW 3.0 CSL,
1976), Roy Lichtenstein (BMW 320 Group 5, 1977), Andy Warhol (BMW M1
Group 4, 1979), Ernst Fuchs (BMW 635CSi, 1982), Robert Rauschenberg
(BMW 635CSi, 1986), Michael Jagamara Nelson (BMW M3 Group A, 1989),
Ken Done (BMW M3 Group A, 1989), Matazo Kayama (BMW 535i, 1990), César
Manrique (BMW 730i, 1990), A. R. Penck (BMW Z1, 1991), Esther Mahlangu
(BMW 525i, 1991), Sandro Chia (BMW M3 GTR, 1992), David Hockney (BMW
850CSi, 1995), Jenny Holzer (BMW V12 LMR, 1999), Ólafur Eliasson (BMW
H2R, 2007), Jeff Koons (BMW M3 GT2, 2010), John Baldessari (BMW M6
GT3) and Cai Fei (BMW M6 GT3).
The BMW Art Car Collection is by no means complete as it stands. The
number of exhibits will continue to grow, adding artistic expressions
to the collection.
About BMW’s Cultural Commitment
Since its inception, BMW Group India has participated in leading
cultural engagements across the country. In 2007, two BMW Art Cars
embellished by world renowned artists Andy Warhol (BMW M1, 1979) and
Roy Lichtenstein (BMW 320i, 1977) were presented at the Jehangir Art
Gallery in Mumbai. BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons, Sandro Chia and Cesar
Manrique have been exclusively showcased at India Art Fair. Since
2012, BMW has partnered with Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the contemporary
art fair, which brings international artists to India and creates a
global platform for Indian artists. In 2012-13, the innovative BMW
Guggenheim Lab came to India. Based at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and
conducted at six different sites in Mumbai, the lab organised six
weeks of free program with diverse audience and communities addressing
the challenges and conditions of the urban city.
For almost 50 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in
over 100 cultural cooperation’s 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. The BMW Group
gives 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.
If you have any queries, please contact:
BMW Group India
Abhay Dange, Director,
Press and Corporate Affairs
Cell: +91 99 104 81013;
Tel: + 91 124 4566 600;
Email: Abhay.Dange@bmw.in
Satchit Gayakwad,
Press and Corporate Affairs
Cell: +91 95 607 25900;
Tel: + 91 124 4566 906;
Email: Satchit.Gayakwad@bmw.in
BMW Group Cultural Engagement
Prof. Dr Thomas Girst
BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs
Head of Cultural Engagement
Telephone: +49 89 382 247 53
Email: Thomas.Girst@bmwgroup.com
Internet: www.bmw.in
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