BMW is official partner of Art Basel in Hong Kong 2019

From March 29 to 31, the Art Basel show in Hong Kong will open its doors offering again extensive insights into the modern and contemporary works by emerging and established artists, presented by 242 of the world’s leading galleries. As an official partner of the show, BMW will not only provide the VIP shuttle service, but also present the world’s first BMW Art Car (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975), created by legendary artist Alexander Calder, in the BMW Lounge at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Furthermore, the latest BMW Art Journey awardee Zac Langdon-Pole will be on-site documenting his journey and the next BMW Art Journey shortlist will be announced.

BMW Art Journey at Art Basel in Hong Kong 2019
In 2015, together with Art Basel, BMW enabled an initiative to support young emerging artists: the BMW Art Journey. Latest awardee Zac Langdon-Pole (represented by Michael Lett, Auckland) will be on the ground in Hong Kong for the documentation of his BMW Art Journey project “Sutures of the Sky”. His journey took him across a world that humans and birds have been navigating through millennia. He followed the flight paths of birds like the white stork or the arctic tern, traveling along the earth’s axis where the Northern and Southern Hemispheres’ summers intersect. Migrating birds cover some of the longest distances traveled by any living being. Their routes have guided the Polynesian pathfinders across the seas. Inspired by this ancient celestial tracing, Langdon-Pole’s journey questions the position of humans as the center of the world. Weaving through Europe and the Pacific Islands of Samoa and Hawaii, his BMW Art Journey seeks to understand how culture intersects with the science of celestial mapping – and from there flows into larger existential inquiries about who we are and how we are situated in the world.

Zac Langdon-Pole will take part in the Art Basel´s Conversations series on Saturday, March 30, 2019 “Artists Telling Stories: Narrative Forms and Strategies”.

An international jury of experts will gather again at the upcoming Art Basel show in Hong Kong to select a shortlist of three artists from the Discoveries sector for the next BMW Art Journey. Members of the jury are Claire Hsu, Executive Director Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; Matthias Mühling, Director Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich;Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Presidente Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Phil Tinari, Director Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing; Samson Young, artist and winner of the first BMW Art Journey.

The shortlisted three artists who will be invited to submit their proposals for a journey will be announced at the BMW Lounge on March 28, 2019, at 5.30 PM. That evening, BMW will host an exclusive VIP cocktail reception to celebrate the announcement of the BMW Art Journey shortlist.

BMW Art Car #1 (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975) by Alexander Calder
The first ever created BMW Art Car will be on display at the BMW Lounge at Art Basel in Hong Kong 2019. By painting the BMW 3.0 CSL in 1975 Alexander Calder laid the foundation stone for the Art Car Collection. It was also one of his final works of art before he passed away. As a sculptor who normally devised his own shapes, Calder managed to free himself from the formal structure of racing cars and, by painting them, aspired to give them his own distinctive mark. As in the case of his sculptures and mobiles, he used intensive colors and gracefully sweeping surfaces which he distributed generously over the wings, bonnet and roof.

It was originally the French racing driver Hervé Poulain who had the idea of letting an artist have his or her way with an automobile. Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint his BMW racing car in the early 70’s; this was the spark which led BMW to establish the Art Car Collection.

Since then, prominent artists from throughout the world have designed BMW automobiles of their times, all making extremely different artistic statements. The nineteen exhibits created for the Art Car Collection until now include works by well-known artists such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, A.R. Penck, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, John Baldessari and Cao Fei. The Art Cars reflect the cultural and historical development of art, design, and technology.

BMW is a global partner of Art Basel also supporting the shows in Basel and Miami Beach as a long-term partner.

Furthermore, BMW and Artsy joined forces to collaborate on promoting the arts on a global scale. Following “The Future of Art”, a series of short videos, which were published in 2017, the next joint collaboration as a result of the long-term partnership will be presented in the evening of Wednesday, March 27, 2019 in Hong Kong.