At least one Art Car is expected to take the start in the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans (12-16 June), namely the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 entered by BMW M Team WRT. The Hypercar has been given a breathtaking livery designed by McArthur Award and US Department of State Medal of Arts Award recipient Julie Mehretu. This prototype is the latest incarnation in a long line of BMW Art Cars.
Julie Mehretu: I realised the entire Art Car project is about creating something new, being inventive and pushing boundaries. To me, the car is a living painting. It was created for the circuit rather than the museum. It has also been developed in close collaboration with a motorsport engineering team and will not be completed until the 24 Hours of Le Mans is over.
Chairman of the BMW Management Board, Oliver Zipse: The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of our global cultural commitment. For almost 50 years, we have joined forces with artists as fascinated by mobility and design as they are by technology and motorsport. Julie Mehretu’s racing car art will make an extraordinarily strong contribution to our BMW Art Car series. Her vision has opened the door for us to expand our cultural involvement, including a social project aimed at promoting youth creativity in Africa.
When Art and Speed Dance
Space, movement and energy have always been central motifs in Mehretu’s works. For the BMW M Hybrid V8 livery, she transformed a two-dimensional image pattern into a dynamic three-dimensional representation of speed at scale. She found inspiration in her monumental painting “Everywhen” (2021-2023) currently on display at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice as part of a major retrospective.
The abstract characteristics result from digitally alienated photographs layered with dot grids, neon-coloured veils and black markings typically seen in her work. Mehretu: I saw the BMW M Hybrid V8 in front of the finished painting in my studio and thought about what would happen if the car could move through the picture and merge with it. Now the BMW Art Car is another version of my painting and it looks like its grille has inhaled the paint.
The #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 will be driven by Sheldon van der Linde/Robin Frijns/René Rast at the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans, fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Mehretu: I was overwhelmed seeing the car at Daytona. Designers, engineers, aerodynamicists and countless other creative minds endeavor to push this car to its limits. So many dreams are about to come true at the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit.
Ahead of seeing the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car hit the track, take a look at its stunning livery in the photo gallery below.
