"These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy. You can participate with it, add to it and let yourself transcend with its energy. There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car - it's really to connect with that power", says Jeff Koons who is excited about what he calls the "aesthetics of winning".
2010 celebrates the 35th anniversary of the Art Car series that includes works from artists like Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jenny Holzer BMW is proud to announce the cooperation with Jeff Koons. Since 1975, artists from around the world have turned BMW cars into art, signifying a particular period, through the Art Car program. The last installment was revealed by artist Olafur Eliasson in 2007.
As part of his creative process, Koons looked at the history of race car graphics, light bursts and speed. The artist is known for his heartfelt appreciation of cars. Earlier this year he was even recognized by music icon Bono of U2 as one of the ideal artists to design a car that would make the world fall in love with automobiles again. The resulting graphic conceived by Koons is evocative of power, motion and light, and is rendered in the artist's signature saturated hues on a black ground set against the car's silver interior, a color also chosen by the artist himself. On the BMW M3 GT2 it will impart a dynamic appearance even when the car is standing still.
Koons has been in an intense collaboration with BMW's team in Munich for months - melding his skill with sophisticated BMW engineering - to ensure that the 17th BMW Art Car will be race-ready for the 24-Hours of Le Mans.