The Colors Of The BMW Art Cars

The BMW art car series began in 1975 when racecar driver and art dealer Hervé Poulain asked his friends Alexander Calder to paint the car that he would drive in that year's Le Mans. Since then, 16 cars have been created from likes of Andy Warhol & Robert Rauschenberg to Jenny Holzer & Olafur Eliasson. Here's a look at at each of the 16 cars in the series.

Video note: all the videos are in German except the last one.

Alexander Calder

in 1975 French racecar driver and art dealer, Hervé Poulain, asked his friend Alexander Calder to paint a BMW 3.0CSL which Poulain would drive at Le Mans. Though Calder was mostly known for his mobiles, he agreed and became the first artist to participate in the new series. The art car became on of calders last pieces as he died a short time after.

Frank Stella

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Stella is quoted as saying his art car, another BMW 3.0CSL painted in 1976, was "like a blueprint transferred to the bodywork." also saying of his graph-paper like design, "The pattern should be regarded as agreeable decoration."

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Roy Lichtenstein

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Lichtenstein spent time thinking about everything a car goes through before painting the BMW 320i in 1979. ""I wanted to use painted lines as a road, pointing the way for the car... The design also shows the scenery through which the car has driven. You could call it a list of all the things a car experiences - the only difference is that this car mirrors all these things even before it takes to the road."

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Andy Warhol

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Warhol was also asked to paint a car in 1979, a BMW M1. "I tried to portray speed pictorially. If a car is moving really quickly, all the lines and colors are blurred." andy said of his work which unlike all previous artists, was painted directly on to the car rather than a 1:15 scale model which was then transfered to an actual car. When asked how he felt about the outcome of his work he replied, "I love the car; it's better than the work of art itself."

Ernst Fuchs

In 1982 Austrian painter Ernts Fuchs had a turn at painting a BMW 635CSI. he called his work "Firefox on Harehunt," and that it "represents a hare racing across a motorway at night and leaping over a burning car."

In the painting, I gave expression to various experiences, fears, desires and implorations, but also to free artistic creation. I call this car 'Firefox on Harehunt'. It represents a hare racing across a motorway at night and leaping over a burning car the - primeval fear and bold dream of surmounting a dimension in which we live. It tells me its colors, I read them in its lines and shape, I hear its speedy call and can already see the handsome hare leaping through flames of love, driving away fears.

Robert Rauschenberg

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Rauschenberg's BMW 635 Csi incorporated his style of collage by transferring famous images including representations of Bronzino's "Portrait of a Young Man" and "La Grande Odalisque" by Ingres.

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Michael Jagamara Nelson

In 1989 M.J. Nelson transformed his BMW into a M3 masterpiece of Papunya art portraying a landscape as viewed from the sky.

Ken Dun

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In a palettes of parrots and parrot fish, Ken Dun used the exotic colors on the BMW M3 as a representation to his homeland of Australia and the cars beauty and speed.

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Matazo Kayama

In 1990 Japanese artist Matazo Kayama worked in familiar themes to his previous work, and relied on the japanese techniques of Kirigane" (metal cutting) and "Arare" (foil impression) on the BMW 535i.

Cesar Manrique

Also in 1990, Cesar Manrique painted a BMW 730i "to appear as if it were gliding through space without encountering any form of resistance."

A.R. Penck

The BMW Z1 painted by A.R. Penck in 1991 contrasted the modern design of the car with pictogram reminiscent of cave drawings

Esther Mahlangu

"My art has evolved from the tribal tradition of decorating our homes", said the South African painter Esther Mahlangu of her work on the BMW 525i in 1991.

Sandro Chia

Chia, who used to paint graffiti on cars as a child, got his chance to paint a BMW 3 series race car in 1992. He painted faces and a sea of vivid colors until the bodywork of the car was completely covered, and is quoted as saying "Look at anything hard enough and it turns into a face."

David Hockney

Hockney flipped the BMW 850CSI inside out by painting it as if you were looking right through the panels and into the interior.

Jenny Holzer

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American concept artist, Jenny Holzer, covered the BMW V12 LMR with messages like 'Protect me from what I want' and 'You are so complex you don't respond to danger.'

Olafur Eliasson

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"Turning a hydrogen-powered racecar into an Art Car, Olafur Eliasson created a piece that must be kept in a refrigerated room."

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Sources: nytimes article, slide show, Usa Auto Parts, BMWDrives.