Hybrid BMW ‘art car’ to compete at Le Mans
The 20th BMW Art Car has been shown to the public for the first time before competing at the Le Mans 24 hour race.
The BMW M Hybrid V8 race car is a performative work of art commissioned in 2018 that continues a longstanding tradition of BMW Art Cars and competitive racing and is the first BMW hybrid to take on the Le Mans 24hr race. The hybrid electric drivetrain system provides 640 hp, powered by a 4.0-litre V8 engine supported by an electric motor with a top speed of up to 345 km/h or 215 mph, depending on the race track layout.
“The whole BMW Art Car project is about invention, about imagination, about pushing limits of what can be possible. I don’t think of this car as something you would exhibit. I am thinking of it as something that will race in Le Mans. It’s a performative painting. My BMW Art Car was created in close collaboration with motorsport and engineering teams,” said New York artist Julie Mehretu. “The BMW Art Car is only completed once the race is over.”
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3D mapping technology was used to transfer the 2D image produced by Mehretu onto the 3D vehicle.
Since 1975, BMW has commissioned artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Jeff Koons for its Art Car collection, as well as Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, Jenny Holzer and Ólafur Elíasson
The current collaboration between BMW and Julie Mehretu also includes a joint commitment to a series of PanAfrican Translocal Media Workshops for filmmakers, which will tour various African cities in 2025 and 2026, and will culminate in a major exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town.
“The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of our global cultural commitment. For almost 50 years, we have been cooperating with artists who are just as fascinated by mobility and design as they are by technology and motorsports. Julie Mehretu’s vision for a racing car is an extraordinarily strong contribution to our BMW Art Cars series,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW. “Julie Mehretu has created more than an amazing Art Car. Her ideas provided the impetus for us to expand the cultural commitment of our Art Cars to promote the creativity of young artists in Africa.”
Leading up to race day, Julie Mehretu’s BMW Art Car will make an appearance at the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este in Lake Como on its way to Le Mans as part of the exhibition with the BMW Art Cars by Alexander Calder (1975), Frank Stella (1976), Roy Lichtenstein (1977), Andy Warhol (1979), Jenny Holzer (1999) and Jeff Koons (2010), which also made their race debut at Le Mans.
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