The modern automobile is a culmination of many inventions and innovations that have been
improved on, altered and reimagined over its 130 plus year history. And as this creation has
progressed and evolved so has the culture and knowledge of the human being and how it
views this machine. With that progression, our ideas and creativity have been translated to
the four wheeled canvas.
With the many cultures and projects that have incorporated, one has been the most iconic
and inspiring to me: The BMW Art Car Project.
The brainchild of French racecar driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, the project was
introduced by Poulain who wanted to invite artists to use new automobiles as their canvas.
In 1975, Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint the first
BMW Art Car.

This first example would be a BMW 3.0 CSL which Poulain himself would race
in the 1975 Le Mans endurance race. He was a stand out racer with the unique appearance
he presented in comparison to his competitors. While the other racers kept to simple racing
stripes coloured to represent their teams and branding of sponsors, Poulain ran with style
only sporting his cars racing number. The primary colours bringing life to the beautiful form
of the 3.0 CSL.

Although he did not finish the race that year, this would be the jumping off
point from a publicity campaign to a much larger investment by BMW.

Since Calder's work of art, and its subsequent popularity, many other renowned artists
throughout the world have been commissioned to created BMW Art Cars, including David
Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and many other modern art
greats. A total of 19 BMW Art Cars, based on both racing and regular production vehicles,
have been immortalized into the collection. The most recognisable artist to the join BMW Art
Car program was Jeff Koons in 2010 with his M3 GT2, which competed in the 2010 24
Hours of Le Mans but did not finish due to a suspension failure in the final 30 minutes.

Thomas Girst, who has been the main head of the BMW Art Cars project since 2004, has
stated that the purpose of the project has changed over time: "In the beginning the cars were
raced. There wasn't much of a public relations effort around them... Since then, some of the
Art Cars have been used in advertisements to show that BMW is a player in the arts.

With the Eliason work, part of what we are doing is raising awareness of alternative and
renewable energy sources.

John Baldessari next to the 19th BMW Art Car, a 2016 M6 GTLM at its debut at Miami Art
Basel 2016

Truly this is a beautiful example of how the more commonly known art community and that of
the more niche car community have mixed together to create something unique and
incredible. I can on say i eagerly await what BMW comes out with next and whom they
choose as the next talent of modern art to contribute to such a lovely and fascinating projec