BMW Art Cars are visiting London for a couple of weeks as a part of the Cultural Olympiad 2012. The cars are located over six floors in a parking garage in Shoreditch, off of Great Eastern Street, which is not far from Shoreditch High Street station. There are sixteen cars on display, and each one has been painted by a famous artist; the cars range between the years 1975 and 2010. Information about the artists and the cars is located on each level and next to the cars, and a video is located at the end of the tour where you can watch some of the cars being painted and hear more from the artists and their reasoning behind their artwork for the cars.
Artists of BMW Art Cars include Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Jeff Koons, Ernst Fuchs, Matazo Kayama, and Jenny Holzer.
BMW Art Cars are on display until the 4th of August, and admission is free. Once you've finished visiting the exhibition, you can also visit BoxPark (next to Shoreditch High Street station) and grab a bite to eat and do some shopping.
For more information and to visit, here's the information on the London 2012 website: http://festival.london2012.com/events/9000966105
Alexander Calder (1975) is the first BMW Art Car.
Jenny Holzer's (1999) car depicts several bold messages, some of them about consumerism such as "Protect me from what I want"
Matazo Katama (1990) used foil printing and metalcut to create this effect, which resembles snow and bright gold. This is one of my personal favourites.
Cesar Manrique's (1990) design uses bright, bold shapes that intersect. The wing mirrors look like eyes.
Frank Stella (1976) was inspired by the grid pattern with this black and white cross-hatched design.
Another image of Frank Stella's (1976) car.
In 1979, Andy Warhol wanted to convey speed. This is a colourful car, and the paint strokes are easy to see.
Robert Rauschenberg (1986) used traditional images and photographs on this car.
Esther Mahlangu (1991) uses a bright tribal cross pattern.
M.J. Nelson (1989) is an Australian artist, and this car uses an aboriginal style. This is one of my personal favourite car designs.
Sandro Chia (1992) created a pattern with faces to reflect society. This is my favourite car.
David Hockney's (1995) car portrays a driver and his dog.
Ernst Fuchs' (1982) car depicts flames.
In 2010, Jeff Koons painted the last in the BMW Art Cars series; the car uses a bright linear pattern.
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