Mercedes-Benz to feature Warhol’s ‘Cars’ series in Los Angeles exhibit

MANILA: The Mercedes-Benz Art Collection will stage the “Andy Warhol: Cars - Works from the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection” exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California from July 23, 2022 to January 22, 2023.

The exhibit will feature 27 screen prints on canvas and 13 drawings from Warhol’s renowned “Cars” series. The world-famous series features eight Mercedes-Benz models showcasing the history of automobiles. Aside from the works, some of the vehicles portrayed by Warhol will also be displayed, including the Mercedes-Benz Formula One racing car W 196 R with streamlined body, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” Coupe (W 198) and the Mercedes-Benz 750-kilogram formula racing car W 125.

In a statement, Mercedes-Benz Art Collection Head Renate Wiehager said, “Since the highly acclaimed presentation at the Guggenheim Museum New York in 1988, Andy Warhol's "Cars" series has been a guest in major museums around the world. We are very pleased that after more than 30 years, it will now be seen again extensively in the US. The name Warhol has a 'mythical' attraction in the context of art, as the visitor numbers to his exhibitions show. This is also true of the brand name Mercedes-Benz in its context, which – materialized in the symbol of the star – has a secure field of connotations: beautiful, fast, modern, luxurious, quality.”

“We are delighted to once again make these great pictures accessible to a broad international audience in the Los Angeles exhibition and thus contribute to the promotion of culture and education because that is precisely the point of our art collection: with our social commitment to culture and education, we want to create a recognizable benefit for the common good,” Mercedes-Benz Group Board of Management for Integrity and Legal Affairs Member Renata Jungo Brungger stated. “Andy Warhol's artworks have inspired people for generations — just like Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Two top brands meet in the 'Cars' series.”

The Cars series is one of the last art collections made by Warhol before he died in 1987. Warhol created the series for the 100th anniversary of the then Daimler-Benz AG. Originally, 80 pictures of 20 vehicle models from eight different decades were supposed to be made but only 36 prints on canvas and 13 drawings were completed. To date, 30 screen prints and all the 13 drawings are part of the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection. The works can be seen at various Mercedes-Benz sites and can be accessed by employees and the public through registered guided tours.

“Warhol saw himself as a partner of commissioning situations whose aim was to transfer a product into another context: into the context of art, into the context of the 'Warhol aura'. However, such a product transfer succeeds above all when two products meet on the same plane. The commission alliance between Andy Warhol and Mercedes-Benz can be described as a stroke of luck on 'equal terms'. Two top products have met here, each of which is absolutely 'top' in its field,” Wiehager added.

Photos from Mercedes-Benz

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