Art/Calder jewellery

CALDER JEWELLERY

Irish Museum of Modern Art, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin Tues-Sat 10am-5.30pm (Wed 10.30am-5.30pm), Sun noon-5.30pm Until Jun 21 €5/€3/Adm free for under 18s, students, all on Fridays 01-6129900

If you happen to visit the Calder Jewelleryexhibition at Imma, you can't fail to notice the inclusion of an unusual exhibit: a BMW in its own display case situated on the lawn. The BMW 3.0 CSL, its colourful livery designed by Calder, is an appropriate addition to a show of work by a man best-known for his sculptural mobiles. What could be more mobile than a racing car? It is part of BMW's formidable automobile art collection, an ongoing series in which the car-maker invites artists to customise particular models.

In fact, Calder’s was the first in an illustrious line of art cars for BMW. He designed it at the invitation of auctioneer and racing driver Herve Poulain in 1975, and the response encouraged BMW to continue. Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney and AR Penck are among the artists who have made memorable contributions.

The idea was inspired partly because BMW has been responsible for some of the most aesthetically pleasing cars in motoring history, including several generations of the classic 3-Series embellished by Calder, Stella and Lichtenstein.

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