The series of shoots to celebrate the 40th birthday of the BMW M1 designed by Andy Warhol.
ART WITHIN SURFACES
SPECIAL ISSUE ON AUTOMOTIVE
Beauty and Speed: when the Automotive Industry Meets the Art It is a pop art icon, one of the most expensive cars in the world, but also one of the most extraordinary: the BMW M1 Art Car was painted by Andy Warhol in 1979. ipcm® has chosen to talk about it in this section because it represents the perfect match between industry and art.
T
hey race, are traded as works of art and are practically
American sculptor Alexander Calder. A few months later, Poulain
priceless: the BMW Art Cars. For more than 40 years, they have
unveiled the powerful multi-colour lightweight coupé at Le Mans
been the highlights of the BMW Art Car Collection. The French
– the first instance of BMW performance art. Since then, the BMW
auctioneer and hobby race car driver, Hervé Poulain, invented the
M Art Cars have been hot-selling exhibits. And some of the most
BMW Art Cars. In 1975, he dreamed of competing in the 24-hour
spectacular combinations of speed and beauty.
race at Le Mans in an artist-designed racing car. His biggest wish: a
To date, a total of 19 BMW Art Cars, based on both racing and
super sports car. His greatest happiness: BMW Motorsport GmbH,
regular production vehicles, have been created by artists like David
founded three years previously. They recognised the potential of
Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank
this seemingly crazy idea, and had a BMW 3.0 CSL painted by the
Stella, and Andy Warhol. The most recent artist to the join BMW Art
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N. 69 - MAY/JUNE 2021 - international PAINT&COATING magazine
