BMW's artful return with Chinese creation

Chinese artist Cao Fei has revealed that her plans for the 18th installment in the BMW Art Cars gallery are inspired and informed by changes she is witnessing in her own country.

The artist unveiled her aesthetic motivations and design language at a media display at her studio in Beijing on Thursday last week.

Speaking about her inspiration for the car, Fei said: "The car is key to understanding the changes occurring in contemporary Chinese society. The rapid speed of a car and the rapid changes taking place in Chinese society are my inspirations for creating the 18th BMW Art Car".

BMW's Head of Group Cultural Engagement, Thomas Girst, expressed his delight in Cao Fei's interpretations for the art car.

"We are pleased to see that the artists' ideas for the 18th BMW Art Car regarding future cars, society and humankind is in line with BMW's vision for future mobility," he said.

The car being used as the blank canvas will be BMW's highly successful M6 GT3 race car, and the finished product is due to be unveiled in 2017.

In keeping with BMW art car tradition, the M6 will compete in a race within Asia before being displayed at a prominent museum, however there are currently no details as to when and where this will occur.

With 463,736 BMW's sold in China in 2015 according to car sales statistics website www.best-selling-cars.com, BMW aims to increase its market share in the fastest growing car market in the world.

The tradition of Art Cars based on high-performance BMW models can be traced back to the early 1970s, with two M3 models painted by Aussie artists joining the exhibition in 1989. These two were reimagined by Ken Done and Michael Jagamara Nelson.