BMW is official partner of Frieze Seoul. Digital Art Mode to premiere at the inaugural edition of the global renowned art fair in Asia.

Seoul. From September 2 through 5, Frieze Seoul will open its doors at COEX in Gangnam, first time in Asia. The new fair will feature over 110 galleries, including a strong contingent of Asian galleries, who will be joined by international galleries from 20 countries. As one of Frieze’s long-term global partners since 2004, BMW will both provide a VIP shuttle service as well as present its Digital Art Mode and #THE 8 X JEFF KOONS exclusively for the fair at the BMW Excellence Lounge.

BMW i7’s #Digital Art Mode which combines automobile with art will be showcased in Korea for the first time. With the Digital Art Mode, BMW Group’s Cultural Engagement, already existing for over 50 years now, reaches new heights. It is the result of an intense collaboration with the internationally renowned Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei who also designed the 18th BMW Art Car, the first of its kind to be entirely digital. The Digital Art Mode focuses on the holistic user experience: unique moments enhance BMW’s driving experience by creating a synergy of the vehicle’s functions and its interior design. Depending on the driving situation and the overall mood, a holistic user experience featuring both a functional and an emotional level can be created at the touch of a button or via voice control. To that end, drive control and steering control, mood lighting and sound as well as the color scheme and graphics of the BMW Curved Display are precisely synchronized.

In addition, the exclusive limited edition designed by the international renowned artist Jeff Koons based on the new BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupé will be premiered for the first time in Korea. #THE 8 X JEFF KOONS features pop art elements as well as geometric patterns that are precisely tailored to the sophisticated lines and forms of the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé. The exterior design combines eleven different colors, from blue to silver as well as from yellow to black. All paint jobs are manually applied by skilled employees at the BMW Group plants in Dingolfing and Landshut. The lines of color that explode across the rear of the vehicle are a direct tribute to Jeff Koons’ own 2010 BMW Art Car based on the M3 GT2. The seats of Jeff Koons’ edition of the BMW M850i Gran Coupé are in rich contrasting tones of red and blue, and the center console adds exclusiveness with the artist’s signature on the cupholder trim. THE 8 X JEFF KOONS limited-edition will be available in Korea after the fair.

Frieze, which is esteemed as one of the global art fairs, selected Seoul as its first destination in Asia and will be hosting it under the name of Frieze Seoul. The inaugural fair to be held this year is to be participated by world-class galleries including Gagosian, Pace Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac or Lehmann Maupin.

BMW Group Cultural Engagement

For over 50 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on contemporary and modern art, sound & music, as well as architecture and design.

In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group’s Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Daniel Barenboim, Jonas Kaufmann and architect Zaha Hadid have cooperated with BMW. In 2016 and 2017, female artist Cao Fei from China and American John Baldessari created the next two vehicles for the #BMW Art Car Collection.

Besides co-initiatives, such as BMW Open Work, the BMW Art Journey and the “Opera for All” concerts in Berlin, Munich and London, the company also partners with leading museums and art fairs as well as orchestras and opera houses around the world.

The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural activities – as this initiative is as essential for producing groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

BMW has supported Frieze Art Fair for 18 years now. In 2017 Frieze and BMW premiered the initiative, BMW Open Work curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini, whereby artists are invited to develop projects exploring current and future technologies as tools for innovation and artistic experimentation. Presented annually at Frieze London, each artwork is given the potential to unfold across physical spaces, such as the fair’s BMW Lounge and Courtesy Car Service, as well as digital platforms.