This Ethiopian Artist Designed The Latest BMW Art Car For One Of The Biggest Motorsport Races In The World

PARIS, France—Ethiopian artist Julie Mehretu debuted the 20th BMW Art Car last week in Paris. With her design, Mehretu fused industrial design objects, creating a “performative painting” on the mobile work of art. The car will race at Le Mans, the 24-hour endurance motorsport race in June.

The art car unveiling took place at the Centre Pompidou in the City Of Light on May 21. During the presentation, Mehretu shared how she initially declined BMW’s offer of the opportunity in 2020. She didn’t even know that a jury of prominent art gallery and museum directors was convening to select the next designer, which culminated in a unanimous vote to select Mehretu.  

While grateful for the opportunity, Mehretu was shocked by the offer, recalling, “I could not even fathom how to approach painting a car, and I very respectfully declined the invitation.” But Thomas Girst, head of cultural engagement for BMW motor car group, did not give up. She shared that Girst sent her an email saying, ‘We’re going to convene another jury, but just before we do, I want to send you this photo of the jury that selected you.’

“It was the early days of the pandemic when the entire world was sheltering in place. I was really moved when I saw this photograph with Okwui Enwezor, who had passed away the year before, and I was missing Okwui’s intellect. I started to think, ‘we’re sheltered in place. Why not take on your car as a project around mobility, and how do we really rethink that?’”

Thus began the partnership between the renowned artist and BMW. For the finished product, Mehretu’s artwork was painted on a BMW M Hybrid V8, with help from 3D mapping technology, which enabled the motif to be transferred to the vehicle’s contours. The design was based off of one of Mehretu’s works currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, “Everywhen” painting, which showcases signature elements of her artwork, “space, movement, and energy.”

“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?’” stated Mehretu. “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.”

As Mehretu says, “[t]he whole BMW Art Car project is about invention, about imagination, about pushing limits of what can be possible. I don’t think of this car as something you would exhibit. I am thinking of it as something that will race at Le Mans. It’s a performative painting. My BMW Art Car was created in close collaboration with motorsport and engineering teams. It is only completed once the race is over.”

“The competitors should never see this car in the rearview mirror,” Mehretu cheekily stated, and she’s hoping this 20th Art Car will “be the first by a woman to win.”

But even when the race ends, the collaboration between Mehretu and BMW is not over. “I realized that the whole Art Car project is about creating something new, being inventive and pushing boundaries to see what’s possible,” said Mehretu.

Mehretu and Emmy-nominated producer, writer and co-founder of the Realness Institute Mehret Mandefro are bringing Pan-African Translocal Media Workshops, with a goal of inspiring creativity in young artists. In 2025, from Cape Town, South Africa to Dakar, Senegal and Marrakech, Morocco, artists will be able to attend these cultural exchanges and collaborate. The results of the workshop will be showcased at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town.