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ART DRIVE! The BMW Art Car Collection 1975-2010 - free admission exhibition of Art Cars by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and David Hockney opens on 21 July
Fri Jul 20 13:26:00 CEST 2012 Press Release
Collection on show for first time in UK in London East End car park
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Angela Stangroom
BMW Group
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Angela Stangroom
BMW Group
ART DRIVE! The BMW Art Car Collection 1975-2010 exhibition opens in the NCP car park on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch, London on 21 July and runs for two weeks. In partnership with the ICA, the Mayor of London and the London 2012 Festival, the free admission exhibition brings together for the first time in the UK the collection of BMW cars transformed by 16 of the world's leading international artists.
Initiated over 35 years ago, it features BMW cars by: Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, M.J Nelson, Ken Done, Matazo Kayama, Cesar Manrique, Jeff Koons, A.R Penck, Esher Mahlangu, Sandro Chia, Jenny Holzer and David Hockney.
The exhibition is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration running until 9 September 2012, bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.
The BMW Art Car Collection started when French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain invited his friend Alexander Calder to design a car that married artistic excellence to 'an already perfect object'. The end result was a racing car that would ultimately compete in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1975. And so the BMW Art Car was born.
Since then some of the greatest names in contemporary art have added to the collection creating a wide range of artistic interpretations. David Hockney’s 1995 Art Car paints the inside of the car on the outside, revealing everything from internal engine parts to a dog in the back. Rauschenberg incorporates photographic transfers of Ingres paintings while Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein used the canvas of the car to portray the essence of speed.
Well-known for its support for innovation and new talent across the contemporary arts, the ICA has sought out some exciting emerging names in design from the East End to help deliver this project, including Julia, Loop.pH and My Beautiful City.
Gregor Muir, Executive Director of the ICA, said: “We are delighted to be working with BMW, the Mayor of London’s Office and London 2012 Festival on this prestigious project. Art Drive! presents an exciting opportunity for the ICA to reach out to new audiences.”
Ruth Mackenzie, Director of London 2012 Festival, added: "The London 2012 Festival is thrilled to be working with BMW and the ICA on what will be one of our most exciting pop up events of the summer - London has never seen these astonishing cars, and this free event will be a highlight of our festival.”
Ends
For an online tour of the entire BMW Art Car Collection, please visit http://www.bmw-artcartour.com/
ART DRIVE! – THE BMW ART CAR COLLECTION
Dates: 21 July – 4 August 2012
Location: NCP Great Eastern Street Car Park, 35 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3ER
Admission: Free
Notes to Editors
The ICA
The ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) was
founded by a group of radical artists and writers in the 1940s as a
space for experimental and challenging arts practice. The iCA is
uniquely positioned on The Mall in central London in a Regency
period building designed by John Nash. Since moving to its present
location in 1968, the ICA has become the home of the British
avant-garde and continues to foreground interdisciplinary art practice.
BMW Group Cultural Engagement
For more than 40 years, 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
modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as
architecture and design. The BMW Group takes absolute creative
freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted
as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it
is for major innovations in a successful business.
Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture
and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview.
Images of all BMW Art Cars can be found by searching ‘art cars’ at:
https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/pressclub/p/pcgl/photoTeaserList.html?left_menu_item=node__3&isHomepage=true. You can
also access documentary footage material of the entire BMW Art Car
Collection at: https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/pressclub/p/pcgl/tvFootageDetail.html?docNo=PF0003039.
To launch the project, the BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons was
photographed in front of London’s Tower Bridge on Tuesday 3 July. To
view the images, please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/icalondon/sets/72157630389410410/
The ICA’s current exhibition - Bruce Nauman’s Days and
an online project, Soundworks, featuring over 130 audio artworks
submitted by artists worldwide – is presented in partnership with
BMW. www.ica.org.uk/soundworks
The Cultural Olympiad and London 2012
Festival
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the
largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic
and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to
give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and
inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among
young people.
The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad is the London 2012
Festival, the spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration bringing
together leading artists from across the world with the very best
from the UK, from Midsummers Day on 21 June and running until the
final day of the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012.The London
2012 Festival celebrates the huge range, quality and accessibility
of the UK's world-class culture including dance, music, theatre, the
visual arts, fashion, film, comedy and digital innovation, giving
the opportunity for people across the UK to celebrate the London
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Principal funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012
Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic
Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural
Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.
For more details on the programme, to download the London 2012
Festival official guide and to sign up for information visit www.london2012.com/festival
The Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is supporting a huge programme of free events
and cultural activities to add to the excitement of 2012. Working
with outstanding international artists and world class cultural
organisations this unprecedented Mayor of London
Presents programme is taking place in every corner of the
capital to add to and complement the London 2012 Festival. It
includes Secrets: Hidden London, with artists and
performers transforming hidden and lesser known
locations;Showtime, the largest outdoor arts
festival ever seen in the capital, with dozens of electrifying
artists from the UK and abroad coming to every borough, in high
streets, parks and town centres;BT London Live,
bringing live action from the Games, as well as sporting activities
and entertainment to Hyde Park, Victoria Park and Trafalgar Square;
and Surprises bringing pop-up performances and once
in a lifetime experiences to locations familiar and unusual, above
your heads and atop landmark buildings. To be the first to know
what's happening in this Summer Like No Other , sign up or follow us
at www.molpresents.com /www.facebook.com/mayoroflondonpresents /
www.twitter.com/molpresents
The Art Drive! Project Team
Art Drive! takes
the ICA to Shoreditch for the first time and is located in Great
Eastern Street Car Park. Familiar to many locally the car park will
be transformed into a temporary gallery, with care and consideration
given to the use of environmentally-friendly materials and
techniques for presentation and graphics. The ICA has teamed up
with three East London-based groups in the fields of exhibition,
event presentation and graphic design: My Beautiful City, Loop.ph
and Julia.
My Beautiful City
My Beautiful City (MBC)
specialises in producing unique events. We balance sophisticated
design and originality to ensure an innovative approach to
production & event management. Creating bespoke experiences for
both corporate and private clients worldwide, MBC can guarantee that
each event will impress and excite its guests. Having produced
events internationally in Paris, Rome, New York, LA, Tokyo and
Moscow, no challenge is too big. Creativity and innovation are at
the heart of every MBC production, from unique catwalk shows, to
private dinners, experiential events, product launches, music tours,
and brand experiences. Our London based team, led by Founder/
Creative Director; Robin Scott-Lawson, consists of experienced
production managers, set designers, lighting designers, 3D
animators, installation artists, film makers and photographers.
Julia
Julia is Valerio Di Lucente (Italy),
Erwan Lhuissier (France) and Hugo Timm (Brazil). Having met at the
Royal College of Art in London, the trio founded the studio in 2008
upon graduation. Previous work includes typefaces, posters, books,
identities and websites for cultural institutions and commercial
companies such as Wallpaper magazine, The Royal College of Art,
Design Museum and the British Council amongst others.www.julia.uk.com
Loop.pH
Loop.ph is a London based art and
design studio intervening at an urban scale to re-imagine life in
the city. The studio was founded in 2003 by Mathias Gmachl and
Rachel Wingfield to create a new design practice reaching beyond
specialist boundaries, mediating between digital & biological
media and facilitating participatory design and urban crafts.
For further information, please contact:
Michelle Roberts
Corporate Communications Manager
London 2012
01344 480719 | michelle.roberts@bmw.co.uk
Angela Stangroom
Group Communications Manager
01344 480283| angela.stangroom@bmw.co.uk
Penny Sychrava PR
0796 791 5339 | pennysychrava@hotmail.com
Johnny Gibson, Head of Communications
020 7766 1410
| johnny.gibson@ica.org.uk
Naomi Crowther, Press Officer
020 7766 1407 | naomi.crowther@ica.org.uk