Hong Kong (Taiwan News) – Following contributions from artists like Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, the latest BMW Art Car, featuring a design by African American abstract artist Julie Mehretu was unveiled at Art Basel Hong Kong.
The latest BMW Art Car transforms the vehicle's metallic surface into a storm of ochre and cobalt whirlpools. Upon closer inspection, the artist's signature architectural lines appear distorted as if resisting the laws of physics at 300 kilometers per hour.
Christiane Pyka, spokesperson for BMW Group Cultural Engagement, said that Mehretu insisted on capturing the visual blur of a racing car at full speed.
This masterpiece continues the 50-year legacy of BMW Art Cars, which began in 1975 when French race car driver Herve Poulain had a radical idea: "What if a racing car became a moving canvas?" The concept was brought to life by BMW's then-head of motorsport, Jochen Neerpasch.
"Poulain approached several brands, but it was Neerpasch who immediately saw the potential," Pyka explained.
The first BMW Art Car, designed by Alexander Calder, made its debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that same year. "The crowd went wild and children were cheering. BMW knew right then that this had to become a tradition."
From Calder’s pioneering work to Andy Warhol’s 28-minute paint-splattered creation, and now Mehretu’s dynamic abstraction, each Art Car encapsulates a moment in contemporary art history.
The BMW Art Car project is far more than an automotive decoration. Pyka called it an "outside-in" philosophy: "We do not select the artists, an independent jury of museum directors and curators from institutions like the Centre Pompidou and Chicago Art Institute does."
Mehretu was chosen for her ability to translate the concept of compressed time and space from her monumental painting “Everywhen,” which was on display at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, into the language of speed.
"Her work naturally resonates with racing, it is about movement, history, and pushing boundaries," Pyka noted.
However, initially, Mehretu declined the invitation, bluntly stating, "Decorating a car sounds boring."
A single photograph changed her mind, a snapshot of the late Nigerian curator Okwui Enwezor, her close friend and mentor, smiling among the jury members. "She said, 'I will do it for his spirit,'" Pyka said.
What followed was an intense technical challenge. "This was not about wrapping a car with a print of her painting," Pyka explained.
"Mehretu deconstructed ‘Everywhen’ digitally, then reassembled it in three dimensions on the car’s surface." The team underwent 15 painstaking trials at a workshop in rural Bavaria to perfect the foil application.
As an artist with Ethiopian roots, Mehretu is extending the project’s impact beyond the art world. Together with BMW, she will launch film and media workshops in five African cities — Lagos, Dakar, Tangier, Nairobi, and Cape Town — to nurture emerging talent.
With only 20 Art Cars created over five decades, BMW remains selective. "We wait for the right moment and the right artist," Pyka said. But she shared an ambitious vision: “Imagine all 20 Art Cars gathered in Munich, that would be an epic dialogue between automotive and art history.”
