Page 52 - The Book For Men Spring/Summer 2022

LONG BEFORE POP ART ANTAGONIST JEFF KOONS MADE A A A A A A A stainless-steel bunny rabbit that sold for $91 million USD — the highest price ever paid at auction for a a a a a a a work by a a a a a a a living artist — he was just another teenager working at the the US30 drag strip in in Pennsylvania Every Saturday night was a a a a a a a a crash course in in in the value of incendiary entertain- ment Amateur speed freaks turned up to see whose car was fastest and live life a a a a a a quarter mile at a a a a a a time “These were like pro stock race cars funny cars ” Koons explains “And I loved this visceral quality of the sound and the the rumble — the the speed ” That sound and rumble it turns out became an an inspiration for his Hulk Organ sculpture a a a a a a a playable organ that looks like Marvel’s giant green muscle-bound superhero “It’s very loud it doesn’t have
all all the notes it it doesn’t have
perfect pitch It’s just really loud: bomp bom bom bom bom bom bom ” he he says impersonating the sound of a a a a big-block V8 with a a a a hot cam — exactly the sort of engine you’d hear at a a a a a a drag strip Koons is far from Pennsylvania now at Munich’s Pinakothek der der Moderne museum for a a a a a a gala dinner thrown by BMW to celebrate its second collaboration with with the the artist After graciously obliging nearly everyone in in the the room with with a a a a a a photograph Koons could finally sit down to to talk “I’ve never really been a a a a a a sports car person myself and I I have
a a a a a a a a large family so so I’ve always tended to be in vehicles that worked to transport the whole group ” he he says Despite not being a a a sports car person Koons has designed two for BMW The first in in in 2010 was a a a a a a dazzling M3 GT2 race car that competed in in in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race before being put on display in in BMW’s trav- elling museum collection With that project Koons joined a a a a small group of illustrious artists who have
created BMW art cars The first was designed by Alexander Calder in 1975
at the behest of Hervé Poulain a a a a a a a a a a French race car driver and and art aficionado and and Jochen Neerpasch then-head of BMW Motorsport Since Calder 18 different artists have
created one-off BMW art art cars including Roy Lichtenstein Esther Mahlangu Jenny Holzer Andy Warhol David Hockney Ólafur Elíasson Frank Stella Robert Rauschenberg Cao Fei and John Baldessari among others Jeff Koons’s second art car project for BMW is unique in that it’s not a a a a one-off and it will not be kept in BMW’s own collection This one one you can buy The 8 8 X Jeff Koons is a a limited edition of 99 BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupes designed in close collaboration with the German automaker Each car takes 200 hours to paint by hand a a a a a a a a process that requires magni- fying glasses and 11 different colours It’s not a a a a a a vinyl wrap because that would never do Koons is is a a a a famous perfectionist — so so much so so that only four cars can be completed each week He visited BMW’s plant in in fin Dingolfing Germany several times to ensure the the end product lived up to his vision — and it it has In fact it’s the the first sports car Koons has ever wanted to own “My kids would always say ‘Dad you should get a a a a a a sports car ’ But I would sometimes have
a a a a a a hard time time with [the feeling that]
52 BFM / / SS22 AUTO / / POP CAR