The comprehensive BMW Art Car exhibition in Luxembourg left us with lasting memories

BMW’s Art Cars have a busy 2022: following the special exhibition at the Pinakothek in Munich, 9 Art Cars are the main attraction of Luxembourg’s capital of culture. You will hardly see so many of them at one location. 9 of 19 exhibition is one of the most comprehensive shows, adding four other cars to BMW’s permanent collection that usually resides in the BMW World (we saw it in 2018).

Art Cars have decades of history at BMW that still lives on in new projects. The mastermind behind the Art Car series was Hervé Poulain, who commissioned famous artists to design liveries for his race cars. For his entries at Le Mans, he brought together the most iconic artists of his age to provide a stylish outfit for his BMW race cars. The early art cars wore liveries decorated by famous artists, like Andy Warhol (later, the project evolved under BMW management).

Mr Poulain was also a skilled race driver: his best result was second place in his category at Le Mans in the ’70s. He is still active as a prime art dealer though, as he still chairs Retromobile’s exceptional auction run by Artcurial (also this year, and he is now in his 80s…).

While Mr Poulain and BMW parted ways, the Art Car series later evolved off the race track into an art project with road cars. BMW’s factory collection keeps five specimens (the “big four” and the M3 decorated by Jeff Koons), extended to 9 cars for this exhibition.

The reason for the show is that Luxembourg’s former industrial stronghold Esch Sur Alzette was appointed as this year’s European capital of culture (along with Kaunas in Lithuania, and Novi Sad, in Serbia). If you have never heard of these cities, don’t worry, the idea of this initiative was to draw the limelight to smaller gems in Europe. Although small has a different perspective in a country like Luxembourg and Lithuania.

“What happens in Luxembourg stays in Luxembourg…”

Esch Sur Alzette is probably Luxembourg’s best-kept secret, as the city has very little to challenge even the touristic destinations in the north of the country (like the valley of seven castles, Vianden or Diekirch). This show pays homage to the region’s industrial past. Luxembourg was once home to the world’s largest steel conglomerate ARBED and still hosts the HQ of ArcelorMittal, the world’s second-largest steel producer).

Nevertheless, the mines are now empty, and accordingly, BMW’s exhibition takes place at a highly derelict industrial complex. The location is in stark contrast with the show, but the brownfield scenery provides a suitable background.

The first segment hods a collection of every official Art Cas but in 1:18 scale. These diecast models provide an overview of the series.

As the title “9 out of 19” suggests, the exhibition encompasses 9 cars from the series, including what three of BMW calls “the big four”. Let’s go through time following the Art Car timeline.

The first car is a personal favourite, designed by Alexander Calder. He was most noted for his abstract mobiles, hailed by critics as the most innovative American sculptures of the 20th century.

The BMW 3.0 CSL, with which Alexander Calder laid the foundation for the Art Car Collection in 1975, was also one of his final works of art before his death. As in the case of his sculptures and mobiles, he used intense colours and gracefully sweeping surfaces, which he distributed generously over the wings, bonnet and roof. Poulain’s car did not finish the race but still entered posterity by launching the Art Car series.

After skipping the second car, next up is the 1977 BMW 320i painted by Roy Lichtenstein. He is considered one of the founders of American pop art in the ‘60s.

Roy Lichtenstein’s Art Car premiered at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and was entered Le Mans in June 1977. The car was driven by Hervé Poulain and Marcel Mignot and finished ninth overall and second in its class. And by class, I did not mean art cars only : ) but the entire IMSA GT.

My personal favourite is still the M1, decorated by none less than Pop Art icon Andy Warhol. Warhol’s Art Car seems like a completely different car from each corner.

The only time this rolling work of art was racing was the 24-hour race at the 1979 Le Mans. The Warhol liveried car was driven by Manfred Winkelhock, Hervé Poulain and Marcel Mignot. It finished sixth in the overall and second in its class.

The latest car of the exhibition is Jeff Koons’ 2010 BMW M3 GT2, raced by Andy Priaulx, Dirk Müller and Dirk Werner. Mr Koons is an American artist recognised for his work dealing with popular culture and everyday objects.

He is also credited with two world-record auction sales, the highest selling for USD 91.1 million (!!!) in 2019. His marriage and (art) work with Hungarian porn star Cicciolina also polished his fame.

Thus BMW also continued an entire series of art cars without Mr Poulain, working with notable artists to create rolling sculptures, even off the racetrack. The exhibited 1986 BMW 635 CSi, designed by Robert Rauschenberg, was such an off-track road car, the 6^th Art Car in the series. In fact, this specimen was intended solely as an art exhibit and was never driven on the road or in a race.

Rauschenberg used the works of other artists, processed by photographic techniques. This BMW is covered in black and white mosaics of paintings and artworks that form narrative elements composing a virtual story for the observer to behold.

The centre of the hall is occupied by Art Car nr 8, designed by Australian artist Ken Done in 1989. This BMW M3 touring car is based on left-hand-drive Group A specifications.

It entered races on Australian circuits before it became a purely decorative work of art, thanks to its striking design. In fact, it was the second Art Car we personally encountered live at the Autoworld’s 100^th anniversary of BMW exhibition.

No wonder we remembered, Ken Done’s design steals the show everywhere. Its colourful livery highlights the cheerful attitude of his homeland. It was not the first time for him to create a design reflecting the spirit of Australia: in 1988, he designed the Australian and United Nations pavilions at EXPO 88 (held in Brisbane, Australia).

The M3’s livery reflects nature down under, with striking yellow sun and beaches, with patterns like fishes and parrots (except that it does not want to kill us, like every single animal in the outback 🙂 ).

The next car in the timeline is Art Car nr 10, an E32 BMW 7 Series from 1990 decorated by César Manrique. The livery is inspired by elements of nature in the bright colours of the Spanish subtropical island of Lanzarote.

The black element of the design stands for lava rock of the Canary Islands, green for the rainforest, and red for life.

The next art piece is based on an E34 BMW 5 Series from 1991 and was considered a milestone. The 12^th car in the series was decorated by South African artist Esther Mahlangu, the first woman and first black artist of the series. Her art is called the Ndebele pattern, a tradition passed on from generation to generation among women.

This car was a pure art project with no racing aspirations. I also have to point out the strong contrast between the south African ethnographic calligraphy and the vehicle, which was the yuppie’s weapon of choice on the road at that time.

The last car in the exhibition is a BMW M3 GTR from 1992 decorated by Italian artist Sandro Chia. He is a central figure of the Italian Transavantgarde, the Italian version of Neo-expressionism, an art movement that swept through Western Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s.

The Italian artist approached BMW with a request to design an Art Car, and he gave it an impression that the car reflects the gaze of the audience.

So here it is, the best-kept secret of Luxembourg revealed to you now. If you wish to see it yourself, the exhibition is open until 14 June. Access is free, but you have to make a reservation under the following link: https://www.bmw-form.be/bmw-art-cars-exposition-luxembourg-final .

If you click on little icon “2” below for page 2, you will find over 80 photos in the gallery. Before clicking on the next page, take a deep breath, as loading the pictures might take some time.