BMW Art Journey reveals shortlisted creatives at Art Basel Miami Beach

It is easy to be cynical about corporate-sponsored art. Necessary even. But a lot of art wouldn’t get made without it. Some of it good. Elsewhere on this site you can read about Isaac Julien’s marvelous Stones Against Diamonds, a project that wouldn’t have got off the ground without support from the Rolls-Royce Art Programme.
The German Car giant BMW, which owns Rolls-Royce, has been running its own cultural programme for 40 years. It is very serious about it and backs it with serious money. You can try and unpack the motives but better to look at the output.
Last year for instance it launched the BMW Art Journey, a collaboration with Art Basels Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Put simply, the project provides funding for two emerging artists, one picked from each fair, to go on a year-long voyage of discovery; creatively and literally.
The inaugural BMW Art Journey-maker was Hong Kong artist and composer Samson Young who returned from on a campanological tour of London, Los Angeles, Nuremberg, Mombasa, Mandalay, St.Petersburg and elsewhere with For Whom the Bell Tolls: A Journey into the Sonic History of Conflict.
In each location, Young recorded the sound of bells that had been witness and peeled (and unpeeled) during times of conflict (one of the key ideas behind Young’s piece is that bells were often melted down to make cannons during wartime and then recast from retired artillery in occasional moments of peace). Using these ‘sound-sketches’ he is composing a new piece for bells and orchestra.
The shortlist of artists nominated to make the next BMW-sponsored creative trip was announced during this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach. It includes the German duo Henning Fehr and Phillip Rühr, the LA-based artist Dan Bayles, and the Mexican artist Fritzia Irizar. Each has to submit an outline of their odyssey and what they hope to come back with by January next year. And they will find out whether they need to start packing when the winner is announced in February.
Young, pictured here at Church Saint-Martin-sous-Vigouroux, Department Cantal, returned from on a campanological tour of London, Los Angeles, Nuremberg, Mombasa, Mandalay, St.Petersburg and elsewhere with For Whom the Bell Tolls: A Journey into the Sonic History of Conflict
In each location, Young recorded the sound of bells that had been witness to times of conflict, using these ‘sound-sketches’ he is composing a new piece for bells and orchestra
The shortlist of artists nominated to make the next BMW-sponsored creative trip was announced during this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach...
...It includes the German duo Henning Fehr and Phillip Rühr, the LA-based artist Dan Bayles, and the Mexican artist Fritzia Irizar. Each has to submit an outline of their odyssey and what they hope to come back with by January next year. The winner being announced in February before beginning their journey
INFORMATION
For more information visit the BMW Art Journey website
Photography courtesy of the artist and BMW
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
Here in the UK, summer seems to be fading fast. Moody skies and showers called for early-autumn rituals for the Wallpaper* team: retreating into the depths of the Tate Modern, slipping into shadowy cocktail bars, and curling up with a good book
-
To celebrate 50 years in business, Giorgio Armani is opening up his extraordinary archive to everybody
Launched at the Venice Film Festival, Armani/Archivio is a digital archive charting 50 years of Giorgio Armani through the house’s most memorable designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernism
We explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
-
12 things not to miss at Art Basel 2025
Art Basel is bigger and better than ever. Avoid overwhelm, follow our definite what-to-see guide at this year's event (19-22 June)
-
Meet the Art Basel Awards 2025 winners
The inaugural Art Basel Awards 2025 winners have been announced, celebrating a wide array of artistic practices shaping the future of art
-
The alternative art fairs championing emerging artists
The lower barrier to entry to these smaller and specialist art fairs make them hubs of grassroots creativity, allowing emerging names to establish a foothold in the industry
-
Don’t miss these five artists at Art Basel Hong Kong
Art Basel Hong Kong – the glittering intersection of European curatorial expertise and Asia's money-fuelled art swagger – returns for its 2025 edition
-
Switzerland’s best art exhibitions to see in 2025
Art fans, here’s your bucket list of the standout exhibitions to see in Switzerland in 2025, exploring compelling themes and diverse media
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this week
A snowy Swiss Alpine sleepover, a design book fest in Milan, and a night with Steve Coogan in London – our editors' out-of-hours adventures this week
-
What to look out for at Art Basel Miami Beach 2024
Art Basel Miami Beach returns for its inaugural edition under new director Bridget Finn, running 6-8 December, with 286 international exhibitors and a packed week of parties, pop-up, and special projects
-
Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series comes to life for Art Basel Paris
In ‘Tales & Tellers’, interdisciplinary artist Goshka Macuga brings Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series for Art Basel Paris to life for the public programme