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BMW’s Art Cars Celebrate 40 Years and Will Be Showcased around the World

40 years ago one man at BMW had an incredible idea that a true artist should paint one of his racers. His name was Herve Poulain that asked artist friend Alexander Calder to do something about the exterior of a BMW 3.0CSL. That’s when the phenomenon known as a BMW Art Car was born.
BMW Art Cars Exposed 21 photos
Photo: BMW
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Over the years, names like Lichtenstein, Warhol, Koons, Stella, Calder, Rauschenberg, Holzer, Eliasson were all tied to an Art Car. Now, after doing the Le Mans 24-hour race, 40 years ago, the Calder 3.0CSL will be shown around the world to celebrate the anniversary.

“The BMW Art Cars provide an exciting landmark at the interface where cars, technology, design, art and motor sport meet,” reflects Maximilian Schöberl, Senior Vice President, Corporate and Governmental Affairs, BMW Group. “The 40-year history of our ‘rolling sculptures’ is as unique as the artists who created them. The BMW Art Cars are an essential element and core characteristic of our global cultural engagement.”

The first exhibitions in this regard are being held in Hong Kong, at the Centre Pompidou, the Concorso d’Eleganza at Lake Como and the BMW Museum. They will be showcasing the first four BMW Art Cars ever made, signed by Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.

On top of all this goodness, the Jeff Koons BMW M3 GT2 will also be showcased. That’s in case you prefer a more modern design instead of the classic shapes of the other Bimmers. More presentations will take place all through 2015 in New York, Miami and Shanghai.

So far, there have been 17 artists that took a shot at creating an Art Car and the list will only grow bigger over the years. The concept of ‘rolling sculptures’ is now well and alive, traveling across the world. The best part is that most of them have also been raced on proper tracks instead of being kept locked inside a museum all the time and that’s exactly what BMW’s philosophy is all about, right?
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