Exhibition: BMW Art Drive London

Entering the seventh floor of a London car park to find three spaces occupied by BMWs is an inconsequential occurrence given the proliferation of Bavarian-born cars in the UK Capital. Except, that is, when the three in question have been touched by the hands (and brushes) of Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschernberg.

As part of the London 2012 Festival and in partnership with the ICA, BMW has taken over a grimy multi-storey in London's hipster Shoreditch district, filling it with 16 works from its iconic, priceless Art Car collection.

Walk past the 24 hour hand car wash at street level, enter one of the car-sized elevators adorned with minimalist curatorial graphics and you're whisked from the workaday hustle of Great Eastern Street to a similar normality seven levels up, punctuated by the visual drama and historic importance of the work of a pantheon of artists.

That the work is displayed in such shabby surroundings grounds the cars in their natural habitat, while posing the perfect juxtaposition to their extra-ordinary status. The Great Eastern Street NCP is transformed into a brutalist makeshift Guggenheim as visitors descend through each level, each carefully, unobtrusively curated:

Alexander Calder 1975 – BMW 3.0 CSL


Jenny Holzer 1999 – BMW V12 LMR

Matazo Kayama 1990 – BWW 535i

Andy Worhol 1979 – BMW M1 Group 4

Robert Rauschernberg 1986 – BMW 635CSi

Jeff Koons 2011 – BMW M3 GT2

Art Drive runs until 4 August and is open noon until 9pm daily and, as BMW is picking up the parking fee, it's free to enter. For full details visit the London 2012 Festival website.

By Owen Ready