Munich/New York. BMW announced a collaboration today at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum with internationally acclaimed New York-based artist Julie Mehretu to create the 20th BMW Art Car. Mehretu was unanimously chosen by an international jury of 13 museum directors and curators, including Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine Galleries), Richard Armstrong (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Koyo Kouoh (Zeitz MOCAA) and Okwui Enwezor (1963 – 2019). BMW will enter Mehretu’s BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car in the 24 Hour race of Le Mans in June 2024. This almost 50-year tradition has delighted not only motorsport enthusiasts but anyone into design or the arts, technology and mobility. Since 1975, artists such as Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Esther Mahlangu, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, Cao Fei, and John Baldessari have created cars for BMW.
“I've loved cars for most of my life, as toys, as objects, as possibilities. It is from that space that I'm really excited to be working on the next BMW Art Car more than anything,” says Julie Mehretu. “The thrill of the speed, the 24 Hour race of Le Mans and what is possible to invent in hybrid and fully electric vehicles as future modes of play and pushing ahead into new terrains of transportation and motorsports.”
In addition to the car, Mehretu’s concept includes a Translocal Media Workshop Series, taking place in eight African cities. The outcome of the workshops will be presented together with the 20th BMW Art Car at the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town in 2025.
Media information and image material:
29 June 2023
