Yesterday, the BMW Art Car by John Baldessari saw its World Premiere at the Botanical Garden of Miami Beach. The artist, President and CEO of BMW of North America Ludwig Willisch, and Director BMW Motorsport Jens Marquardt were all present to unveil the 19th edition of the series that began in 1975 with Alexander Calder.
“I have done only one work in my life involving a car before, and that was an image of a car. So for the BMW Art Car project, I entered uncharted territory, not just in terms of the subject, but also moving from two- to three-dimensional art. A challenge I did enjoy! The ideas all came at once: for instance, the red dot on the roof, so you can see it from above, FAST on one side and a picture of the car on the other side. I like the ambiguity, having two-dimension and three-dimension at the same time. Considering the car as an icon of contemporary life, my concept turned out playfully satirical, but it also highlights some of the trademark ideas that I use. So you can say, the BMW Art Car is definitely a typical Baldessari and the fastest artwork I ever created!” said John Baldessari.
Baldessari’s BMW M6 GTLM will race at Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 28 and 29, 2017.
