Sixteen BMW cars, transformed into works of art over the last 35 years are on display in a NCP car park in Shoreditch for two weeks only from 21 July to 4 August. This is the first time the car have been on show in the UK. See the RevivalSportsCars images from the exhibition. For access to a full album of images online please email admin@revivalsportscars.com
The exhibition is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration running until 9 September 2012, bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.
The collection, initiated over 35 years ago, features BMW cars transformed by some of the world’s leading artists including: Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, M.J Nelson, Ken Done, Matazo Kayama, Cesar Manrique, Jeff Koons, A.R Penck, Esher Mahlangu, Sandro Chia, Jenny Holzer and David Hockney.
The BMW Art Car Collection started when French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain invited his friend Alexander Calder to design a car that married artistic excellence to ‘an already perfect object’. The end result was a racing car that would ultimately compete in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1975. And so the BMW Art Car was born.
Since then some of the greatest names in contemporary art have added to the collection creating a wide range of artistic interpretations. David Hockney’s 1995 Art Car paints the inside of the car on the outside, revealing everything from internal engine parts to a dog in the back. Rauschenberg incorporates photographic transfers of Ingres paintings while Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein used the canvas of the car to portray the essence of speed.
ART DRIVE! – THE BMW ART CAR COLLECTION
Dates: 21 July – 4 August 2012
Location: NCP Great Eastern Street Car Park, 35 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3ER
Admission: Free
