The event will run from May 7 to June 14.
Car guys and gals tend to be a little neanderthalic, and need something basic like a car to use as a lens to process fine art. BMW has a particular penchant for art cars. Odds are, you’ve seen the Jeff Koons BMW M3 art car before. That one actually competed at Le Mans in the GT2 class, which only makes it cooler. It’s also one of the nine BMW art cars that’ll be on display from May 7 to June 14. But, we Americans will have to hop on a plane to go see them.
The nine BMW art cars will be on display at the AES steel plant in Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. Honestly, given how special some of these cars are, it might be worth it. If you’re local, admission is actually free.
The opening of the exhibit will be overseen by Herve Pulain, the man who started BMW’s Art Cars project way back in 1975. Since then, 19 total BMW art cars have been made, with nine of them set to be shown here.
The highlights reel is pretty impressive. First, there’s the Koons BMW M3 GT2 car. Then there’s the BMW M1. Andy Warhol painted that. If you’ve ever seen that four-panel painting of Mickey Mouse done in pastel colors, you’ve seen Warhol’s art before. BMW says it took Warhol less than half an hour to paint the car, and like Koon’s GT2 car, also competed at Le Mans.
The other cars are arguably just as notable. If you haven’t heard of the artist, you’ve probably heard of the car or vice versa. If you’re an art buff, names like Rauschenberg and Calder should ring some bells. If not, you’ll recognize the BMW M3 GTR done by artist Sandro Chia, or the BMW 3.0 CSL done by Alexander Calder. If you’re looking to take in some fine art, and perhaps need some help doing so, spending some time looking at these gorgeous art cars isn’t a bad place to start.
