Ethiopian-American artist and New York resident Julie Mehretu is the 20th artist to have designed a BMW Art Car – and she has transformed the BMW M Hybrid V8 race car into a performative high-speed work of art. And RECOM had the pleasure of going to work with creative retouch on no less than two projects with BMW’s brand-new Art Car #20 by Julie Mehretu. For one, captivating studio visuals of the BMW Art Car were created together with Tereza MUNDILOVA c/o SHOTVIEW featuring portraits of the artist. And the other was creative retouch for the BMW Art Car together with photographer Andreas Hempel and the CG vehicle on location.
As visual consultant, Ena Aichinger supported both productions: “Creating these exceptional PR images for global communication together with photographer Tereza Mundilová, who is super-talented and easy to work with, as well as client Christiane Pyka was both a fun experience and creative challenge. I really do love great teamwork for this kind of project, and it was definitely one where everyone worked together beautifully throughout the process.”
For the design of the 20th BMW Art Car, she transformed a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional representation for the first time, with which she succeeded in bringing dynamism into form. Julie Mehretu used the color and form vocabulary of her monumental painting ‘Everywhen’ (2021 – 2023) as a starting point for her design. The work is currently on view at the artist’s major retrospective at Palazzo Grassi in Venice and will subsequently become part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, to which it has been gifted.
The Art Car celebrated its world premiere with an unveiling on 21 May 2024 at Centre Pompidou in Paris and will now compete in the upcoming 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race next week.
This co-op between BMW and Julie Mehretu also includes a joint commitment to a series of PanAfrican Translocal Media Workshops for filmmakers, which will tour various African cities in 2025 and 2026, and will culminate in a major exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town.
Michael SCHNABEL c/o EMEIS DEUBEL and the Hyundai Tucson NX4 went on tour for Hyundai to create CG and portrait visuals full of atmosphere with the Tucson. RECOM was in charge of post production. The agency was Jung von Matt / Neckar with CD Luis Paulo Gatti and AD Mia Petersen. Production in Spain was in the hands of GoSee Member FALCA.
A CGI project with the RENAULT CAPTUR was developed for Publicis Conseil and photographer Calvin Pausania (production: Prodigious France). “This was the most technical and challenging shoot I have done so far,” the photographer says about the eye-catching campaign on Instagram. “The plexiglass pieces were all custom and had to hang in precise places in order to work together. The car, floor and plexiglass set are all reflective, so we had to come up with solutions for every image to make it work.”
Madison Johnstone made a stunning appearance next to the vehicle during the elaborate shoot. Creative responsibility was in the hands of CD Gurvan Prioul and AD Jonathan Levain. And we have the results for you on GoSee.
Plus, RECOM is looking for Senior and Junior 3D / Unreal Artists (male/female/x) in the area of Automotive/Transportation at the moment for the head office in Stuttgart. For further details and the full job description, visit www.recom.de or send your application with CV and portfolio directly to info@recom.de.
