BMW celebrates 20-year partnership with paris photo in 'suburban hauntology' exhibition

BMW celebrates 20-year partnership with paris photo

For more than half a century, the BMW Group has preserved its cultural responsibility with lasting partnerships, such as the one with the international art fair Paris Photo, launched to support and promote emerging creatives. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of this partnership, BMW presents a retrospective of the ten winners of the BMW Residency, a selection of 20 works (the favorites of Thomas Girst – Head of Cultural Engagement of the BMW Group and art historian) and the exhibition ‘Suburban Hauntology’ by Arash Hanaei and Morad Montazami, winners of the cultural initiative BMW ART MAKERS.

I begin to see (2), 135 x 200 cm, Diasec print, 2022 ©Arash Hanaei/ BMW ART MAKERS (05/2022)

the ‘Suburban Hauntology’ exhibition

BMW ART MAKERS is a cultural initiative to help up-and-coming artists, providing them with research and production support as well as visibility among professionals and the general public. ‘Having awarded prizes to artists supported by Paris Photo’s galleries as early as 2003, and then created the BMW Residency in 2011, BMW France launched the BMW ART MAKERS initiative last year, in order to address the societal and creative challenges of today, to keep our pioneering spirit, and to offer a place of free expression and encourage the emergence of talent,’ says Vincent Salimon, CEO of BMW Group France.

The exhibition ‘Suburban Hauntology’ was conceived by the winning artist/curator duo Arash Hanaei and Morad Montazami and will be presented as part of the German automaker’s celebratory program. The show revisits the utopian architecture of the 1970s in today’s era of augmented reality and the metaverse. Combining multiple layers of text, images, video, and 3D design, the creative duo has formed an immersive hybrid installation of digital drawings and big data drawings, a hologram taken from the model of the building, the Unblocked Avatars video and a virtual chess game between Mark Zuckerberg and philosopher Mark Fischer. The exhibition will be on view from 10 to 13 November, 2022, at the Grand Palais Ephémère.

I begin to see (3), 135 x 200 cm, Diasec print, 2022 ©Arash Hanaei/ BMW ART MAKERS (05/2022)

RETROSPECTIVE OF THE TEN BMW RESIDENCY LAUREATES

The program celebrating the 20-year partnership with Photo Paris also includes a retrospective of the ten BMW Residency laureates from 2011 to 2021, exhibiting works under the artistic direction of Francois Cheval at the Niepce Museum in Chalon-sur-Saône and then at the GOBELINS school of visual arts. ‘This residency allows us to highlight the emergence of contemporary photography in different forms through the winning projects. The creatives involved benefited from artistic, technical, educational, and material support.’ the BMW Group shares. Visitors to the show will be able to discover the work of the ten winners through an exhibition of their work taken from the company’s collection.

I begin to see (1), 135 x 200 cm, Diasec print, 2022 ©Arash Hanaei/ BMW ART MAKERS (05/2022)

20 YEARS, 20 FAVOURITES OF THOMAS GIRST

In addition, Thomas Girst shares his 20 favorites from the works exhibited in the galleries of Paris Photo and its associated ‘In Paris during Paris Photo’ program. ‘In 1922, Marcel Duchamp was asked by Alfred Stieglitz whether photography was art, to which he replied: ‘I would like to see it make people despise painting until something else will make photography unbearable.’ 100 years later, many artists exhibiting at Paris Photo employ this ‘something else’ – digitalisation, cutting-edge technology, new modes of narration – to ensure that photography still matters today and to keep it relevant as a meaningful and creative form of expression. Celebrating 20 years of partnership with Paris Photo, BMW is proud to engage with this development, supporting artists and their platforms alike.’ the Head of Cultural Engagement of the BMW Group notes.

Mazaccio & Drowilal – Le meilleur ami du chien (07/2016)