John Baldessari - BMW M6 GTLM, 2016
"Considering the car as an icon of contemporary life, my concept turned out playfully satirical, but it also highlights some of the trademark ideas that I use. So you can say, the BMW Art Car is definitely a typical Baldessari and the fastest artwork I ever created!" – John Baldessari
For the 19th BMW Art Car, John Baldessari turned to well-known stylistic devices and created an iconic work in a unique manner. As a committed minimalist, he worked with the colours red, yellow, blue and green and with his monochrome dots, he left his familiar colourful marks on the M6 GTLM as well. The picture of the car on the side plays with the ambiguity having two-dimension and three-dimension at the same time. With “FAST” as a central typographic element the artist boldly transports the power of the BMW Art Car to its outside and makes it visually accessible for the viewers both at the race track and the museum.
Since the mid-1960s, the works of Baldessari have developed into one of the most trailblazing oeuvres of contemporary art. Baldessari (*1931) has had over 200 solo shows and over 1000 group shows. Amongst other honors, he has received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the Venice Biennale in 2009 and the National Medal of Arts in 2014. As one of the pioneers of American Concept Art, Baldessari continues to exercise a formative influence on young generations of artists right down to today. Baldessari lives and works in Santa Monica, California.
John Baldessari – The BMW M6 GTLM.
• Type: Eight-cylinder V engine
• Capacity: 4,395 ccm
• Output: Up to 585 hp (depending on classification)
• Top speed: 300 km/h (depending on the race track)
After its world premiere on November 30, 2016 during Art Basel in Miami Beach, the 19th BMW Art Car will compete at the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona from January 28 to 29, 2017. Run by BMW Team RLL, the car will be entered in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC). Bill Auberlen (US), Alexander Sims (GB), Augusto Farfus (BR) and Bruno Spengler (CA) will take turns in driving the BMW Art Car.
