Artist Jeff Koons unveiled the BMW Art Car that will carry his colorful paint job in this month’s 24-hour race at Le Mans, France. The race car, a BMW M3 GT2, competes in a popular category that includes Ferraris, Porsches and other production-based sports vehicles that most drivers would recognize. The Art Car will be part of a two-car team competing at Le Mans, where many other Art Cars have raced. The Koons racer is certain to be noticed on the track. Its bright, streaked paint job suggests motion, as if paint was thrown at the car as it passed. Up close, though, the color scheme is full of intricate detail. The M3 GT2 is the 17th Art Car BMW has produced since commissioning Alexander Calder to paint the first one in 1975. Many artists including Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol have designed Art Cars for BMW. Typically the artist created the design through sketches and models, and BMW does the actual painting. Andy Warhol is the only one who painted the car himself.
By Jonathan Welsh: WSJ
