On
February 2, 2010, artist Jeff Koons was joined by BMW
president Jim O'Donnell, guests and art lovers including Dorothy
Lichtenstein,
famed architect Richard Meier, the Whitney's Adam
Weinberg, the Guggenheim's
Richard Armstrong, MOMA's Klaus
Biesenbach, art world luminary Agnes
Gund, Art Production Fund co-founder, Yvonne
Force Villareal and ice
queen, Oksana Baiul at his Manhattan studio to celebrate the announcement
that Koons will create the 17th BMW Art Car. Guests were treated to delicacies
presented by Chef Thomas Keller of Per Se.
Koons will join an illustrious
group of artists that include Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer,
Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, and Alexander Calder – each
of whom has made a unique artistic statement about the appearance and
meaning of cars. The Koons BMW Art Car will be revealed later in the
year. Details of the model and preliminary design will be announced in
due course.
The germination of the idea began in 2003, when Koons expressed
his desire to create a BMW Art Car. His relationship with BMW started
over two decades ago when he drove a BMW while residing in Munich, home
to the BMW Group headquarters. Koons is known for his heartfelt appreciation
of cars. Earlier this year he was even recognized by music icon Bono
of U2 as the one of the ideal artists to design a car that would make
the world fall in love with automobiles again.
Since 1975, artists from
throughout the world have turned BMW automobiles into art signifying
a particular period through the Art Car program. In 2007, the latest
installment was revealed with Olafur Eliasson’s “Your Mobile
Expectations: BMW H2R project.” Many of these have been exhibited
in renowned museums throughout the world including the Louvre, the Guggenheim
Museums, and the Shanghai Art Museum. They have been displayed at the
BMW Museum in Munich, between 2006 and 2010 and many went on a world
tour throughout Asia, Russia, Africa, India, the United States and Mexico.
With over 100 major projects worldwide, BMW Group cultural programs have
been an integral part of the company’s contributions to society
for almost 40 years. Besides contemporary art, architecture and design,
classical music and jazz are key components of this engagement.
