AUTO-NOM-MOBILE - the automobile in contemporary art. An exhibition organised by the Kassel Art Association in Kassel Kulturbahnhof from 15.01.-26.02.2006

Munich / Kassel. A new view of the automobile in modern and contemporary art
will be offered to visitors to the AUTO-NOM-MOBILE exhibition in the
Kulturbahnhof in Kassel. The exhibition concept presents the automobile as an
independent object, throws an unusual light on the symbolic power of the car -
and shows its cultural significance way beyond the idea of "the vehicle".
International artists - including Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, Jenny
Holzer, Wolfgang Tillmans, Sylvie Fleury and Erwin Wurm - will be showing
sculptures and installations, pictures, photographs and videos.

In the exhibition, the artists who have been selected will be developing a
discours which analyses and deconstructs the automobile in terms of its surface
shapes and its design and structure. Elements of this vocabulary are isolated
so that they can be re-assembled, placed in surprising relationships with each
other or processed materially. The exhibition explores our fascination with the
car as the embodiment of mobility, examines its relationship with reality and
asks about the contradictory feelings of pleasure and fear that the car can
trigger. In this way, a colourful AUTO-NOM-MOBILE is created.

The BMW Group Munich and the BMW Kassel/Göttingen branch support the
exhibition, not only as partners but also by lending exhibits. With the BMW Art
Car Collection, the company possesses a collection of art works that is unique
throughout the world (including works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jenny
Holzer, Alexander Calder and David Hockney) and which is being presented as a
series within the scope of AUTO-NOM-MOBILE.

With AUTO-NOM-MOBILE, the Kassel Art Association is making a reference to the
AUTO-NOM exhibition organised by the NRW Forum for Culture and Business in
Düsseldorf in 2003. However, by changing the selection and integrating other
positions taken by artists, in the hands of Bernhard Balkenhol and Jürgen O.
Olbrich this exhibition takes on a profile all its own.

The cultural involvement of the BMW Group has also constantly been tackling new
challenges for the last three decades or so. Through its collaboration with the
Kassel Art Association in the city of the 'documenta' art exhibition, BMW is
underlining the major cultural policy significance of non-commercial art
associations which only have an obligation to art. Their important contribution
to the encouragement and promotion of young innovative artists is supported by
the BMW Group. The exhibition in the Kassel Art Association is the
curtain-raiser to a tour on the general subject of "The automobile in
contemporary art"; its next stop will be London in 2006, followed by visits to
North America and Asia in the next few years.

AUTO-NOM-MOBILE
An exhibition organised by the Kassel Art Association
With the kind cooperation of the BMW Group
15 January to 26 February 2006
Kulturbahnhof Kassel, South Wing

Opening times:
Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday until midnight
An educational service has been established for guided tours.
www.kasselerkunstverein.de

You will find illustrations of all the BMW Art Cars at www.press.bmwgroup.com

For questions please contact:
Corporate Communications

Thomas Girst, Public Relations, Head of Cultural Communications
Telephone: +49 89 382-24753, Fax: +49 89 382-28017

Susanne Spatz, Public Relations, Head of PR Programs
Telephone: +49 89 382-20961, Fax: +49 89 382-28017

Michael Kirsch, Head of Public Relations
Telephone: +49 89 382-25111, Fax: +49 89 382-28017

Media Website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
e-mail: presse@bmw.de