Jeff Koons Design Concept for BMW Art Car

"Next in line to participate in the BMW Art Car series is none other than celebrated New York artist Jeff Koons, marking the 17th time that the German car maker has invited an artist to design a car. Yesterday the artist presented at a press conference the design of the BMW M3 GT2, that will take part at the famous Le Mans race later this year."

“In the spirit of Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Holzer, BMW announced today that the 17th Art Car created by Jeff Koons will race where the first rolling pieces of art by legendary artists raced – at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, June 12-13, 2010. Koons’ canvas is a BMW M3 GT2, which was homologated to compete at this year’s running of the world’s most famous endurance race.

In another nod to tradition, Koons will present the world premiere and sign his car at Paris’ Centre Pompidou on June 1, 2010, just as Roy Lichtenstein did in 1977.

Adding to the occasion, Koons released for the first time his preliminary design concept for the car today at a press conference in New York City. As part of his creative process, the artist collected images of race cars and graphics, vibrant colors and speed. He layered them into a digital collage depicting his sources of inspiration. The resulting graphic conceived by Koons – evocative of power, motion and light and rendered in the artist’s signature saturated hues on a black ground set against the car’s silver interior – will impart a dynamic appearance to the race car even when it’s standing still.”

The car will be presented at Centre Pompidou in Paris on June 1st.