BMW to Showcase Art Car and THE HIRE Short Film

Press Release

BMW TO SHOWCASE HOLZER ART CAR AND "THE HIRE" SHORT FILM SERIES AT FIRST ANNUAL ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH WOODCLIFF LAKE, NJ. BMW of North America today announced that Art Basel Miami Beach, the new international art show that is the American sister event of the prestigious Art Basel in Switzerland, will feature the BMW "Art Car" designed by American concept artist Jenny Holzer and the critically-acclaimed BMW short film series The Hire. BMW of North America is an Associate Partner of Art Basel Miami Beach. Part of the company's commitment to the development and celebration of the global cultural community, the BMW Group has been a proud supporter of the arts including Art Basel in Switzerland, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's The Art of the Motorcycle exhibit, and the BMW Art Car collection, among others. "We are proud to continue our support for Art Basel, as they debut what will surely become one of the most celebrated international art shows in North America," said Tom Purves, CEO of BMW of North America. "Supporting the arts is part of the fabric of our company's core philosophy and all our cultural endeavors seek to explore the close connection between art, technology and design." The BMW V12 Le Mans racing car designed by Jenny Holzer is the 15th model in the BMW Art Car collection. The Art Car program was conceived in 1975, the year that French auctioneer and racecar driver Herve Poulain first entered Le Mans and asked Alexander Calder to commission a rolling canvas on the BMW 3.0 CSL that he would race. Since then, fifteen memorable racecars have been created by brilliant art masters such as Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg and David Hockney (all have since been displayed in museums from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain to the Louvre in Paris.) Together, the Art Cars form a mirror of contemporary culture, as exemplary as it is unique. Another artistic endeavor by BMW will be screening throughout the week, three new films from the original BMW series The Hire. Hailed by critics across the country as "groundbreaking," with a "cinema connoisseur's dream team of directors," "The Hire" Internet film series received international acclaim when it premiered in 2001 with original short films directed by John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Guy Ritchie and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. This year, The Hire returned with three new films directed by John Woo, Joe Carnahan and Tony Scott. The films star Clive Owen as the mysterious Driver along with Maury Chayken, Kathryn Morris, F. Murray Abraham, Don Cheadle, Gary Oldman, James Brown and special cameo appearances by Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, Dennis Haysbert and Marilyn Manson. In addition, BMW of North America will provide a fleet of twenty new BMW 7-series cars that will shuttle Art Basel Miami Beach VIP guests to all activities including special art exhibits, visits to private art collections and special events featuring music, film, fashion architecture and design.