BMW to Showcase the Intersection of Art, Design, and Cars in new Gallery at the Petersen Automotive Museum, the “Armand Hammer Foundation Gallery, presented by BMW of North America.” 

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – December 3, 2015 . . .  As the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles opens its doors to the public after undergoing massive renovations, BMW is proud to present its new gallery space – the Armand Hammer Foundation Gallery presented by BMW of North America. The gallery will exhibit three BMW Art Cars throughout 2016, as well as a Z4 used by artist Robin Rhode in 2009 to create BMW’s famous marketing epithet, “An Expression of Joy,” demonstrating BMW’s commitment to culture and the arts. BMW will also be the official transportation provider for the museum.

The BMW Art Cars are uniquely positioned at the intersection of innovation, design, cars and art. “The BMW Art Car collection contains a diverse array of unique artistic approaches from the last 40 years,” said Thomas Girst, Head of Cultural Engagement at the BMW Group. “These ‘rolling sculptures’ represent the core of BMW Group’s global cultural initiatives, and we are pleased to showcase some of these impressive works in our new gallery space at the Petersen Automotive Museum.”

The BMW 3.0 CSL painted by Alexander Calder in 1975, the first in the now iconic series of BMW Art Cars, and the BMW 850i CSi painted by Los Angeles local David Hockney in 1995 will be on display at the museum’s opening. Alongside his BMW Art Car, the gallery will also exhibit the BMW Art Car maquette done by David Hockney. A maquette is a scale model that BMW provides the artists so they can work on their project prior to creating the full scale Art Car. These maquettes are essentially three dimensional rough sketches to help the artist understand how their designs and vision would translate onto the body of the automobile. Later in 2016, the BMW Art Car painted by Matazo Kayama in 1990 will be displayed.

The Robin Rhode BMW Z4 Roadster is not an Art Car, however, it exemplifies the company’s creativity and support of the arts. In 2009, to help launch the second generation BMW Z4 Roadster, Rhode utilized the car’s tires to apply paint to a large canvass, as he directed a driver where to steer the vehicle. The result was “An Expression of Joy.” Further information: http://www.expressionofjoy.com/#.

As the official supplier of transportation for the Petersen Automotive Museum, BMW will also provide an all-new 7 Series sedan for VIP shuttle service, in its first year of the partnership.

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural collaborations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group’s Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and factory plants.

The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all its cultural activities – as this initiative is as essential for producing groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business. Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview.

Petersen Automotive Museum
The Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity. The Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard (at Fairfax) in Los Angeles, California, 90036. Admission prices are $15 for general admission adults, $12 for seniors and students with ID, $7 for children ages 3 to 12. Active military with ID, personal care attendants and children under three are admitted free. Museum hours are 10am to 6pm. For general information, call 323/930-CARS or visit www.petersen.org.

The Armand Hammer Foundation (“AHF”) was formed in 1980 as a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation by Dr. Armand Hammer, the chairman of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation. AHF supports numerous charitable, religious and educational organizations as well as acquires, maintains and loans works of art for public exhibition.

BMW Group In America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 and X4 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 149 BMW motorcycle retailers, 124 MINI passenger car dealers, and 36 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at: www.bmwgroupna.com.

Journalist note: Information about BMW and its products in the USA is available to journalists online at www.bmwusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com

Please Note


To the extent that historical press releases reference BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC as the manufacturer of certain X model vehicles, the referenced vehicles are manufactured in South Carolina with a combination of U.S origin and imported parts and components.