Julie Mehretu in the BMW Art Car #20, which she designed. | Photo by Tereza Mundilová. © BMW AG (05/2024)
WORKING ON A GRAND SCALE, American artist Julie Mehretu makes abstract paintings distinguished by their kaleidoscopic mark making. The dynamic compositions reference architecture and topography and explore an array of contemporary experiences, human conditions, and social behavior. It’s heady work that has garnered worldwide attention.
The artist’s latest project is a departure and forced her to approach her creativity in a new way. Mehretu designed the new BMW Art Car. She is the 20th artist to take on the challenge, reimagining her two-dimensional work on a three-dimensional scale for the first time. The BMW M Hybrid V8 racing car is equipped with a V8 turbo engine with supplementary electric drive and is capable of reaching 215 mph (345 km/hour). Later this week, the art car will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the endurance race in Le Mans, France.
Metretu’s design for the art car is based on a monumental painting called “Everywhen” (2021-23). A feat of engineering and design employing 3D mapping, the work was applied to the contours of the BMW as a car wrapping. The meticulous project took several months and involved teams of people with various expertise.
“To be honest, I was nervous about the idea of decorating a car. I didn’t know how I could do it in a way that would just be… interesting,” Mehretu said in a video about the project, shown below.
“I appreciated so much the opportunity, but I didn’t think I could do it. The minute the vehicle became something that was taken out of the imagination,… I went to see it race, the drivers, to visit the pit crew, all of that. After having experienced that, I understood that the whole project is about invention, is about imagination, and is about pushing the limits of what could be possible.”
“To be honest, I was nervous about the idea of decorating a car. I didn’t know how I could do it in a way that would just be… interesting. I appreciated so much the opportunity, but I didn’t think I could do it.” — Julie Mehretu
Working in three dimensions for the first time, Julie Mehretu unveiled her design for the BMW Art Car #20 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. The world premiere was May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
Mehretu unveiled her art car at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France, on May 21. In conjunction with the collaboration, BMW announced it is sponsoring series of workshops for emerging African artists. The PanAfrican Translocal Media Workshops will train artists across documentary film, art film, or animation.
Mehret Mandefro, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and co-founder of the Realness Institute is working with Mehretu on the workshops. In 2025 and 2026, workshops are planned in Dakar, Senegal; Marrakesh, Morocco; Kigali, Rwanda; Lagos, Nigeria; and Cape Town, South Africa. The initiative will conclude with an exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town featuring works from the workshop program alongside Mehretu’s art car.
“The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of our global cultural commitment. For almost 50 years, we have been cooperating with artists who are just as fascinated by mobility and design as they are by technology and motorsports. Julie Mehretu’s vision for a racing car is an extraordinarily strong contribution to our BMW Art Cars series,” Oliver Zipse, chairman of BMW AG’s Board of Management, said in a statement. “Julie Mehretu has created more than an amazing Art Car. Her ideas provided the impetus for us to expand the cultural commitment of our Art Cars to promote the creativity of young artists in Africa.”
Julie Mehretu introduced her BMW Art Car #20, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
BORN IN ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Mehretu grew up in Michigan, earned an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and now lives and works between New York and Berlin.
Mehretu is one of the world’s most critically recognized contemporary artists. Last year, one of her signature, large-scale abstract paintings sold for $9.3 million at auction, a world record for an African-born artist. The result also set a new benchmark as the most expensive work at auction by a Black female artist living or dead. (A month later, Mehretu bested herself with a new auction record that now stands at more than $10.7 million.)
A mid-career survey of Mehretu opened in 2019 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and traveled to Whitney Museum of Art in New York, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minn., through 2021.
Coinciding with this year’s Venice Biennale, “Julie Mehretu: Ensemble” is on view Palazzo Grassi through Jan. 6, 2025. The museum is part of the Pinault Collection in Venice, Italy. “Ensemble” is the artist’s largest-ever exhibition in Europe. Co-curated by Mehretu, the show presents more than 50 works, spanning 25 years, along with a selection of works by her close artist friends and peers.
“Everywhen,” the inspiration for Mehretu’s car design, is among the works featured in “Ensemble.” The painting has been gifted to the Museum of Modern Art and will enter the New York museum’s permanent collection.
“After having experienced that (seeing the car race), I understood that the whole project is about invention, is about imagination, and is about pushing the limits of what could be possible.” — Julie Mehretu
JULIE MEHRETU, “Everywhen,” 2021-2023 (ink and acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 inches / 304.8 x 304.8 cm). | Courtesy the artist, White Cube, London and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York. | Photo by Tom Powel Imaging. © Julie Mehretu (05/2024)
BMW HAS BEEN COLLABORATING with artists on the BMW Art Car program since 1975, when Alexander Calder painted a car for his friend, French race car driver Hervé Poulain. In the years since, an array of international artists have worked with BMW on art cars, including Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Ólafur Elíasson, Jeff Koons, Cao Fei, and John Baldessari.
Mahlangu, the South African artist known for her vibrant and graphic patterns paying homage to her Ndebele heritage, was the first woman and and first Black artist to design a BMW art car in 1991. Mehretu is the second Black artist to do so.
Mehretu was selected in 2018 by a jury of major museum leaders, including Koyo Kouoh, executive director and chief curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town; Hans-Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London; Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art in New York, N.Y.; and Okwui Enwezor (1963-2019), the late Nigerian curator who served as artistic director of the 56th Venice Biennale and artistic director of The Haus der Kunst in Munich, from 2011 to 2018.
World premiere unveiling of the BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu at Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. From left, Oliver Zipse (Chairman, Board of Management, BMW AG); Mehret Mandefro (Producer, Writer and Co-Founder, Realness Institute); Julie Mehretu; Koyo Kouoh (Member, BMW Art Car Jury and Executive Director and Chief Curator, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa); and Laurent Le Bon (President, Centre Pompidou). | © BMW AG (05/2024)
“We are thrilled with Julie’s BMW Art Car! Okwui Enwezor had already coined the phrase ‘Dynamism in Form’ during our jury session and nothing applies better to her BMW M Hybrid V8 race car. Julie’s first three-dimensional work combines her aesthetics and formal language with the idea of the glitch and the blur, turning speed into a visceral experience. This energetic space is as fierce and competitive in racing as it is ambitious as a creative playground of the imagination,” the jury said in a statement.
After being unveiled a few weeks ago, the car is headed to the racetrack. BMW’s latest art car will compete in the 24-hours of Le Mans, the endurance race in Le Mans, France. First held in 1923, the race occurs this year from June 12-16.
The project is a true mix of art and motorsport. Mehretu considers the art car to be a “performative painting” that will not be finished until the race is complete. CT
FIND MORE about Julie Mehretu on Instagram
FIND MORE about Julie Mehretu’s BMW Art Car and the creative process for the project here and here
FIND MORE about the Realness Institute, which focuses on strengthening the media ecosystem on the continent by training and supporting African filmmakers and storytellers and bringing African cinema to the world
Julie Mehretu talks about her artistic practice and the challenge of taking on the BMW art car project, which required the artist known for her monumental paintings to work in three dimensions for the first time. | Video by BMW Group Culture
ART CAR #20 | BY JULIE MEHRETU
In Paris, France: BMW Art Car #20 by artist Julie Mehretu. | Photo by Andreas Hempel, © BMW AG (05/2024)
In Paris, France: BMW Art Car #20 by artist Julie Mehretu. | Photo by Andreas Hempel, © BMW AG (05/2024)
BMW Art Car #20 by artist Julie Mehretu. | Photo by Tereza Mundilová, © BMW AG (05/2024)
“The idea was to make a remix, a mash-up of the painting. I kept seeing that painting kind of dripping into the car. Even the kidneys of the car inhaled the painting.” — Julie Mehretu
Detail of BMW Art Car #20 by artist Julie Mehretu. | Photo by Tereza Mundilová, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Detail of BMW Art Car #20 by artist Julie Mehretu. | Photo by André Josselin, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Detail of BMW Art Car #20 by artist Julie Mehretu. | Photo by André Josselin, © BMW AG (05/2024)
BMW Art Car #20 by artist Julie Mehretu. | Photo by Tereza Mundilová, © BMW AG (05/2024)
THE DESIGN | NEW YORK
Julie Mehretu working on the BMW Art Car #20 in New York City. | Photo by Jackie Furtado, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Julie Mehretu working on the BMW Art Car #20 in New York City. | Photo by Jackie Furtado, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Model of BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu during creation process in New York City. | Photo by Jackie Furtado, © BMW AG (05/2024)
“In the studio where I had the model of the BMW M Hybrid V8 I was just sitting in front of the painting and I thought: What would happen if this car seemed to go through that painting and becomes affected by it.”
— Julie Mehretu
Julie Mehretu and Gertraud Brenninger of German team Race Spirit during creation process of BMW Art Car #20 in New York City. | Photo by Jackie Furtado, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Working on model of BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu during creation process in New York City. | Photo by Jackie Furtado © BMW AG (05/2024)
Julie Mehretu worked closely with the German team Race Spirit to design the 20th BMW Art Car. Shown, the artist with the design team and a 1:5 scale model of the BMW Art Car #20 in New York City. | Photo by Jackie Furtado, © BMW AG (05/2024)
THE WRAPPING | MUNICH
Gertraud Brenninger of Race Spirit working on the car wrapping of the BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu in Munich, Germany. | Photo by Jackie Furtado, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Julie Mehretu and Gertraud Brenninger collaborate during creation process of the artist’s BMW Art Car #20 in Munich, Germany. | Photo by Jackie Furtado, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Julie Mehretu working on the BMW Art Car #20 in Munich, Germany. | Photo by André Josselin, © BMW AG (05/2024)
BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu: Creation process in Munich, Germany. | Photo by Jackie Furtado © BMW AG (05/2024)
“I am fascinated by the sheer volume of data, calculations and knowledge that has gone into making this object.” — Julie Mehretu
Materials used during creation process for BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu in Munich, Germany. | Photo by André Josselin, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Gertraud Brenninger and Race Spirit team working on the BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu during creation process in Munich, Germany. | Photo by André Josselin, © BMW AG (05/2024)
Gertraud Brenninger working on BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu during creation process in Munich, Germany. | Photo by Jackie Furtado © BMW AG (05/2024)
Gertraud Brenninger working on BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu during creation process in Munich, Germany. | Photo by Jackie Furtado © BMW AG (05/2024)
Julie Mehretu working on the BMW Art Car #20 with Jackie Furtado in Munich, Germany. | Photo by André Josselin © BMW AG (05/2024)
Julie Mehretu taking a closer look at the BMW Art Car #20 in Munich, Germany. | Photo by Jackie Furtado © BMW AG (05/2024)
THE UNVEILING | PARIS
From left, Julie Mehretu and Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management, BMW AG, at the world premiere unveiling of Mehretu’s BMW Art Car #20, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
From left, Julie Mehretu and Hussein Al-Attar, director automotive design at Designworks and responsible designer of the BMW M Hybrid V8, at the unveiling of Mehretu’s BMW Art Car #20, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
“I went to see the BMW M Hybrid V8 race in Daytona, and this experience was overwhelming. Designers, engineers, aerodynamicists and so many other creative minds are working on taking this vehicle to its extreme. When it goes out on the racetrack now, so many dreams will be fulfilled.”
— Julie Mehretu
Julie Mehretu signs her BMW Art Car #20 at the unveiling at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
Detail of artist Julie Mehretu’s signature on her BMW Art Car #20 at the unveiling, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
From left, René Rast, BMW factory driver; artist Julie Mehretu; Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG; and Sheldon Van Der Linde, BMW factory driver, at the unveiling of Mehretu’s BMW Art Car #20, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG | (05/2024)
On June 15, BMW Motorsport drivers Sheldon van der Linde of South Africa, Robin Frijns of The Netherlands, and René Rast of Germany will enter the 20th BMW Art Car in 24 Hours of LeMans with starting number 20 at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
World premiere unveiling of the BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
From left, Initiators of the BMW Art Car Collection: Jochen Neerpasch, former Head of BMW Motorsport GmbH; and Hervé Poulain, former French motorsports racing driver. World premiere unveiling of Mehretu’s BMW Art Car #20, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
From left, Julie Mehretu and Hervé Poulain, initiator of the BMW Art Car Collection and former French motorsports racing driver, at unveiling of Mehretu’s BMW Art Car #20, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, May 21, 2024. | © BMW AG (05/2024)
THE CONVERSATION | LAKE COMO, ITALY
BMW Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Lake Como, Italy, 2024. | Photo by Enes Kucevic, © BMW AG
Julie Mehretu participated in an artist talk about her BMW Art Car #20 on May 26, 2024. The conversation, titled Dynamism in Form, featured Mehretu and Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design, and was moderated by Thomas Girst, head of BMW Group Cultural Engagement, at Villa Erba, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Lake Como, Italy, 2024. | © BMW AG (06/2024)
May 26, 2024: BMW Art Car #20, Dynamism in Form: Artist Julie Mehretu in conversation with Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design, at Villa Erba, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Lake Como, Italy, 2024. | © BMW AG (06/2024)
The artist talk coincided with a historic exhibition of BMW Art Cars at Villa Erba. Julie Mehretu’s BMW Art Car #20 was featured with cars by Alexander Calder (1975), Frank Stella (1976), Roy Lichtenstein (1977), Andy Warhol (1979), Jenny Holzer (1999) and Jeff Koons (2010), all of which also made their racing debuts at Le Mans. Shown, from left, BMW Art Cars by Frank Stella (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1976); Julie Mehretu (BMW M Hybrid V8, 2024); and Jenny Holzer (BMW V12 LMR, 1999), on display at Villa Erba, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Lake Como, Italy, 2024. | Photo by Enes Kucevic, © BMW AG
Artist Julie Mehretu standing before her BMW Art Car #20 at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Lake Como, Italy, 2024. Photo by Enes Kucevic, © BMW AG
NEXT STOP, LE MANS, FRANCE | JUNE 12-16, 2024
BOOKSHELF
“Julie Mehretu: Ensemble” documents the artist’s latest exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy. “Julie Mehretu” was published in 2019 to accompany the artist’s mid-career survey organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “Julie Mehretu: Grey Paintings” was published to coincide with “Hoodnyx, Voodoo and Stelae,” the artist’s 2016 exhibition at Marian Goodman Gallery and features an essay by artist Glenn Ligon. “Julie Mehretu: Drawings and Monotypes” documents an exhibition at Kettle’s Yard, the University of Cambridge gallery. Also consider, “Julie Mehretu – Liminal Squared” and “Julie Mehretu: A Universal History of Everything and Nothing,” among other publications.
