Daniel Arsham’s new monograph collates the works of the auto-obsessed American artist

It won’t have escaped your notice that artist Daniel Arsham really likes cars. From his ‘uchronic’ series of decayed and degraded full-scale car models to his ongoing fascination with Porsche, the New York-based artist has made the automobile a central focus of his practice.

This new twin volume book from ERG Media chronicles these works, from meticulous restorations and recreations of historic cars with new logos and decals in period correct colour and trim, to standalone non-driveable sculptures. These familiar works, with their inner cores of concrete, rock and crystal, treat the familiar forms of today’s mobility as ‘future relics of the present’, made ‘to appear as if they had just been unearthed after being buried for ages.’

The full sweep of Arsham’s aesthetic is on display, whether it’s intended for gallery consumption or for use on an actual racetrack – witness his bespoke design for Lewis Hamilton’s helmet, or the livery for Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car raced in 1993 by Arthur Mathieu.

For lovers of art cars and race cars alike, Arsham Motorsport captures a very singular and informed approach to automotive creativity. There’s also information about Arsham’s foray into the short-lived world of NFTs, as well as the small editions of larger artworks that tap into the packaging aesthetic and collectability of scale model cars.

ERG Media, which was founded in 2017, often acts as a nexus for art and automobiles, with ultra-high production values and an ongoing collaboration with Porsche, which teamed up with ERG for the Artifacts archive book, amongst other things. Arsham Motorsport is presented in a concrete grey linen slipcase, which has been foil-embossed with graphics using Daniel Arsham’s signature green. Original photography throughout is by Thomas Walk, ERG Media’s art director.

Arsham Motorsport, €295, ERG.media, @ERG.media, DanielArsham.com, @DanielArsham