BMW M Motorsport will race the 24h of Le Mans in 2024 with a car equipped with a special livery, as already announced some time ago.
It will be the twentieth so-called 'Art Car' for the Bavarian company to take to the track, as has already happened on several past occasions for special events and anniversaries.
This time the artist Julie Mehretu worked on a particular color that we will see on June 15-16 at the Circuit de la Sarthe for the FIA World Endurance Championship race on the LMDh #20 in the hands of René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon Van Der Linde .
The hybrid prototype managed by Team WRT and entered in the Hypercar Class with the new livery will be officially presented at the Center Pompidou in Paris on May 21st, while the coloring projects will be completed in the coming weeks.
BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu
Photo by: BMW AG
“For the design of the 20th BMW Art Car, Mehretu uses the vocabulary of colors and shapes of an existing large-format painting from a series of more recent works: darkened photographs, dotted grids, neon-colored spray paint and the Mehretu's iconic gestural marks give his design an abstract visual form,” explains the official note.
“The artist transfers the resulting image pattern as a high-resolution photograph onto the contours of the car using a 3D mapping technique. This creates the unique artistic foiling with which the BMW M Hybrid V8 will compete in the Le Mans race.”
“For the first time, Mehretu works with BMW on a three-dimensional format. The interaction of the surfaces and geometry of the medium creates a remix of elements of his painting and opens up the artist new perspectives in his creative process. In accordance with the regulations of the FIA, the 3D version of the artwork can only be applied to the BMW M Hybrid V8 with film.”
“For this reason, Mehretu is working closely with the German team Race Spirit led by Manuel Eberl and Gertraud Brenninger to design the 20th BMW Art Car. Race Spirit has already participated in the realization of the design created by Jeff Koons for the 17th BMW Art Car”.
BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu
Photo by: BMW AG
BMW hadn't appeared in a race with an Art Car since 2017: then it was the turn of the M6 GTLM designed by John Baldessari for the 24h of Daytona, followed by Cao Fei's virtual BMW M6 GT3 Art Car at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau .
In the past, the most famous Le Mans BMW Art Cars took to the track in 1975 (3.0 CSL by Alexander Calder), 1976 (3.0 CSL by Frank Stella), 1977 (320i Turbo by Roy Lichtenstein), 1979 (M1 by Andy Warhol) , 1999 (V12 LMR by Jenny Holzer) and in 2010 (M3 GT2 by Jeff Koons).
“Only after participating in the 24h of Daytona last year did the idea of how to tackle the BMW Art Car materialize. I was thinking about Frank Stella's grid and how this could be a tribute to the former artists of the BMW Art Cars. And I kept thinking about this painting in my studio that I had just finished and the model of the Art Car that was there; I thought maybe we could try to make the car move through this painting,” Mehretu explains.
“The creative play of what can be done in this new three-dimensional space and the number of imaginations and inventions to build it is very instructive. It's not just the car itself, but also the designers and their reflections, and especially the drivers and their desires and aspirations, to ensure that the car becomes this place of dreams in which painting, conceptual art, aerodynamics, speed and aesthetics can participate.”
BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu
Photo by: BMW AG
The word to the drivers starts with Van Der Linde: “I'm a big fan of the art that BMW Art Cars represent. I still remember seeing the last Art Car, driven by Augusto Farfus in Macau in 2017. I'm proud to be part of I'm also from an Art Car crew.”
“I haven't seen the design yet, but I'm extremely curious and sure that it will be really fantastic. For us it's something special to be even more in the spotlight at the 24h of Le Mans, as if it wasn't already in such an important event.”
Frijns adds: “It's the first time in my career that I've driven a car with a special design and the fact that it's one of the famous BMW Art Cars is fantastic. With a car like this, we will stand out from the rest of the field at Le Mans and we will attract the attention of the media and fans. I'm sure we will have an action-packed week, our aim is to be competitive and get a good result.”
Rast is also happy: “It is a great honor to drive a BMW Art Car and thus become part of a very special story. As drivers, we will undoubtedly be under the media spotlight more than usual. I can't wait to be part of it.”
Franciscus Van Meel, CEO of BMW M, comments: “The prospect of competing with a BMW Art Car at the 24h of Le Mans is a further incentive for the entire team to prepare the M Hybrid V8 in the most perfect way possible for this great stage” .
“In the 100th year of the race's existence and 25 years after BMW's last victory at Le Mans, triumphing with an Art Car would be the greatest possible success for all of us.”
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