BMW Art Car Collection on show for the first time in the UK

London. The ICA, in partnership with BMW, the Mayor of London and the London 2012 Festival, will take over a landmark car park in Shoreditch for two weeks only from 21 July to 4 August for a unique exhibition of the BMW Art Car Collection on show for the first time in the UK.

The exhibition is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration running until 9 September 2012, bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.

The collection, initiated over 35 years ago, features BMW cars transformed by some of the world’s leading artists including: Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, M.J Nelson, Ken Done, Matazo Kayama, Cesar Manrique, Jeff Koons, A.R Penck, Esher Mahlangu, Sandro Chia, Jenny Holzer and David Hockney.

ART DRIVE! THE BMW ART CAR COLLECTION will show cars by 16 international artists over six floors in the NCP Car Park on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch. The project, which brings together BMW’s excellence in car design and the ICA’s passion for and commitment to art, will be a one-off opportunity for art and design lovers as well as car enthusiasts.

The BMW Art Car Collection started when French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain invited his friend Alexander Calder to design a car that married artistic excellence to 'an already perfect object'.  The end result was a racing car that would ultimately compete in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1975. And so the BMW Art Car was born.

Since then some of the greatest names in contemporary art have added to the collection creating a wide range of artistic interpretations. David Hockney’s 1995 Art Car paints the inside of the car on the outside, revealing everything from internal engine parts to a dog in the back. Rauschenberg incorporates photographic transfers of Ingres paintings while Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein used the canvas of the car to portray the essence of speed.Well-known for its support for innovation and new talent across the contemporary arts, the ICA has sought out some exciting emerging names in design from the East End to help deliver this project, including Julia, Loop.pH and My Beautiful City.

The ICA is delighted to be working with LOCOG, BMW and the Mayor of London’s office on this prestigious project. Art Drive! presents an exciting opportunity to reach new and larger audiences. The ICA hopes to take on further projects of this type in order to extend its reach into new spaces across the city.

To launch the project, the BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons was photographed in front of London’s Tower Bridge on Tuesday 3 July. To view the images, please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/icalondon/sets/72157630389410410/ for an online
tour of the entire BMW Art Car Collection, please visit http://www.bmw-artcartour.com/

ART DRIVE! – THE BMW ART CAR COLLECTION

Dates: 21 July – 4 August 2012

Location: NCP Great Eastern Street Car Park, 35 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3ER

Admission: Free

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Notes to Editors

The ICA
The ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) was founded by a group of radical artists and writers in the 1940s as a space for experimental and challenging arts practice. 

The iCA is uniquely positioned on The Mall in central London in a Regency period building designed by John Nash. Since moving to its present location in 1968, the ICA has become the home of the British avant-garde and continues to foreground interdisciplinary art practice.

BMW Group Cultural Engagement
For more than 40 years, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview

The ICA’s current exhibition - Bruce Nauman’s Days and an online project, Soundworks, featuring over 130 audio artworks submitted by artists worldwide – is presented in partnership with BMW.

www.ica.org.uk/soundworks

The Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people.

The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad is the London 2012 Festival, the spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK, from Midsummers Day on 21 June and running until the final day of the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012.The London 2012 Festival celebrates the huge range, quality and accessibility of the UK's world-class culture including dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, fashion, film, comedy and digital innovation, giving the opportunity for people across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Principal funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.

For more details on the programme, to download the London 2012 Festival official guide and to sign up for information visit www.london2012.com/festival

The Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is supporting a huge programme of free events and cultural activities to add to the excitement of 2012. Working with outstanding international artists and world class cultural organisations this unprecedented Mayor of London Presents programme is taking place in every corner of the capital to add to and complement the London 2012 Festival. It includes Secrets: Hidden London, with artists and performers transforming hidden and lesser known locations; Showtime, the largest outdoor arts festival ever seen in the capital, with dozens of electrifying artists from the UK and abroad coming to every borough, in high streets, parks and town centres; BT London Live, bringing live action from the Games, as well as sporting activities and entertainment to Hyde Park, Victoria Park and Trafalgar Square; and Surprises bringing pop-up performances and once in a lifetime experiences to locations familiar and unusual, above your heads and atop landmark buildings. To be the first to know what's happening in this Summer Like No Other , sign up or follow us at www.molpresents.com / www.facebook.com/mayoroflondonpresents / www.twitter.com/molpresents

The Art Drive! Project Team
Art Drive! takes the ICA to Shoreditch for the first time and is located in Great Eastern Street Car Park.  Familiar to many locally the car park will be transformed into a temporary gallery, with care and consideration given to the use of environmentally-friendly materials and techniques for presentation and graphics. The ICA has teamed up with three East London-based groups in the fields of exhibition, event presentation and graphic design: My Beautiful City, Loop.ph and Julia.

My Beautiful City
My Beautiful City (MBC) specialises in producing unique events. We balance sophisticated design and originality to ensure an innovative approach to production & event management. Creating bespoke experiences for both corporate and private clients worldwide, MBC can guarantee that each event will impress and excite its guests. Having produced events internationally in Paris, Rome, New York, LA, Tokyo and Moscow, no challenge is too big.  Creativity and innovation are at the heart of every MBC production, from unique catwalk shows, to private dinners, experiential events, product launches, music tours, and brand experiences.  Our London based team, led by Founder/ Creative Director; Robin Scott-Lawson, consists of experienced production managers, set designers, lighting designers, 3D animators, installation artists, film makers and photographers.

Julia
Julia is Valerio Di Lucente (Italy), Erwan Lhuissier (France) and Hugo Timm (Brazil). Having met at the Royal College of Art in London, the trio founded the studio in 2008 upon graduation. Previous work includes typefaces, posters, books, identities and websites for cultural institutions and commercial companies such as Wallpaper magazine, The Royal College of Art, Design Museum and the British Council amongst others.www.julia.uk.com 

Loop.pH
Loop.ph is a London based art and design studio intervening at an urban scale to re-imagine life in the city. The studio was founded in 2003 by Mathias Gmachl and Rachel Wingfield to create a new design practice reaching beyond specialist boundaries, mediating between digital & biological media and facilitating participatory design and urban crafts.

For further information please contact:

Michelle Roberts
Corporate Communications Manager London 2012
01344 480719 | michelle.roberts@bmw.co.uk

Penny Sychrava PR
0796 791 5339 | pennysychrava@hotmail.com

Johnny Gibson, Head of Communications
020 7766 1410 | johnny.gibson@ica.org.uk 

Naomi Crowther, Press Officer
020 7766 1407 | naomi.crowther@ica.org.uk